Home, sweet home!
by j27b01
Summary: -ON HIATUS- After graduating from college Bella leaves New York to go back to Seattle to be close to her remaining family members, her cousins Jasper and Rosalie. But what will happen when Rose and Bella meet Jasper's two new best friends? ExB, AxJ, RxEM
1. Coming Home

**Coming Home**

"_Delta Airlines flight DL 247 from New York City to Seattle is now ready for boarding."_

_Finally,_ I thought when I heard that. I was never a very patient person, but today my impatience seemed to be even bigger than usual. I was going home. I was finally going home to Washington and I would finally be able to see all my friends and family again.

But the best thing was that I got to take the only real friend I found in New York over the last six years with me. Although Alice lived in New York for her whole life she didn't have any second thoughts about leaving with me. Of course she loved New York and would miss it along with her parents, but she said that it was time for a new start somewhere else. Her parents, Mary and John, who saw me as a second daughter tried to persuade us to stay, but that was out of the question for me. Don't get me wrong, I love New York, but I simply loved Seattle more and after graduating from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism it felt like my time at the Big Apple was over.

When we were taking our seats in the plane my thoughts already drifted off to the new life we would lead in Seattle. As soon as my cousin Rosalie heard that I was coming back she called me and practically squealed her delight about my return through the phone. She immediately asked me to move in with her, but I refused, telling her I promised to share an apartment with Alice, but Rosalie wouldn't hear any of it and even though she never met Alice she offered her to move in with her either. To be quite honest I was happy about that as I got the chance to share an apartment with my two very best friends. I had no doubt Alice and Rosalie would get along, they had so much in common, like their passion for shopping, which I most definitely didn't share at all.

The only problem ahead of us was the fact that none of us had a job. Alice and I just graduated and had yet to apply for jobs, whereas Rosalie lost her job about a month ago because the company she worked for was bankrupt and had to close down. Rosalie was two years older than me and graduated two years ago with a degree in engineering from Stanford. Although Rosalie got a scholarship offer for Columbia just like me she turned it down because she preferred California's good weather to the unstable weather in the Northeast.

Luckily for the three of us Rosalie's brother Jasper, my best male friend, got us all a job at a coffee shop until we found a better job. I was looking forward to seeing Jasper again. He was the complete opposite of Rosalie. Where Rosalie would squeal, scream and jump around, Jasper would merely smile and stay calm. I don't know how he did it, but his calm demeanor always made us calm down either. Jasper worked for one of Seattle's biggest companies, Cullen Inc., and just like his twin sister he graduated from Stanford, only he got a degree in business analyses.

But Rosalie and Jasper weren't the only people I missed. I also missed my uncle and aunt, Rosalie's and Jasper's parents, Lillian and Richard who were like parents to me. They took me in and brought me up after my parents, Renée and Charlie, died in a car accident when I was five. I don't remember them well, but Lillian always said that her sister, my mom, was very much like her, outgoing, ecstatic, friendly and hyper, whereas Charlie was a lot like Richard, quiet, calm, reserved and slightly grumpy from time to time.

I continued to think about my family until a very annoying and hyper little pixie interrupted my daydreaming.

"Bella? BELLA!!! Finally! I thought you'd never snap out of it. What were you thinking about? I've been calling your name for the past five minutes," Alice said a little disgruntled.

"I'm sorry Alice. I was thinking about my family actually. I really missed Rosalie, Jasper, Lillian and Richard."

"Oh! Don't worry, I understand. By the way, how do Rosalie and Jasper look like?"

"They are both very tall, blond, have ice-blue eyes and basically look like supermodels, so long story short, they are the complete opposites of me."

"Beeeellaaaaa, we already had that part. Stop being so self-conscious! You are a beautiful young woman and you apparently don't see yourself clearly."

"Wait till you see Rosie and Jazz, then you'll know what I'm talking about."

Alice just grumbled something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'ridiculous' and 'someday she'll see'. I knew Alice was in a foul mood, so I had to distract her.

"Oh! You know what Alice?"

"What?"

"You know, I was just thinking that my cousin Jasper would be exactly your type. He even has a slight southern accent cause my uncle's from Texas."

"A southern accent?" Alice asked and I knew I had her distracted. If there was one thing Alice couldn't resist it was a guy with a southern accent.

"Yep. I guess I have to introduce you two very soon."

"You better."

We were quiet after that and I could see very clearly that Alice was picturing Jasper from everything I told her about his looks. I even noticed a dreamy look on her face and had to suppress a giggle. I knew that look. Alice had a crush. It was the same way she looked at some celebrities she thought were hot. She must have noticed me staring at her because the next second she looked at me questioningly.

"What is it, Bella?" She asked confused when I didn't answer immediately.

"Well, Alice, is there any possibility that you already have a crush on my cousin, though you've never met him before?" I asked her, smiling angelically.

I only heard her grumble, but then she smiled.

"Maybe. If he really is as great as you said then which girl wouldn't be dreaming about him? Although I bet you're biased."

She was right. There were always a lot of girls chasing and flirting with Jasper, but he never seemed to notice them. Of course he dated a few girls, but nothing serious. As far as I know he has never brought a girl home to meet his parents.

"Yeah, maybe I'm biased. Why don't you just wait and see? Oh, by the way, Jasper doesn't know I'm coming home. Rosalie wanted to surprise him. I guess it's just another reason for her to throw a party at his house. She prefers to do it there cause then she doesn't have to do the clean up."

I laughed when I thought of the last time Rosalie planned a party at Jasper's house. She didn't tell him and held the party while he was away on a business trip. What she didn't expect was for him to come home a day early. It is very rare for Jasper to ever get angry, but when he came home that morning, totally jetlagged and exhausted from his trip to Europe, and saw all the trash lying around along with a few people who passed out drunk the night before he lost it. I never heard Jasper scream before and I have never seen Rosalie so scared. He all but kicked her out of the house. She wasn't allowed inside his house for months.

The rest of the flight passed rather quickly and before I knew it I was staring at Seattle's cloud cover outside the window. I felt the excitement spread through me. I loved these kinds of days. I always felt protected and safe with the cloudy sky and the dim light in Seattle. There was no way to describe the way the bright summer days in New York made me feel restless and always on edge. But the weather outside did not just bring excitement, but also a sense of homecoming. I finally was back where I belonged.

"Hey Bella, what's up? Your eyes are shining like you just won the lottery."

"I'm home." That was all I said, but Alice seemed to understand. I told her all about the different aspects of Seattle and Washington in general I loved.

"Is there anyone picking us up from the airport?" Alice asked as soon as we had landed.

"Yeah. Rosalie called and told me that either her or her parents are going to pick us up as Jasper is still somewhere in the south on a business trip. I think he's supposed to come back tomorrow."

As soon as we got our luggage and stepped through the doors to get to the hall where all the people were waiting for their family and friends, I started looking for a sign of my family. Alice tried to help me, but after ten minutes we gave up.

"You're sure they know it's today?" Alice asked me.

"Yeah, at least I e-mailed them the exact date and time of our arrival."

We moved our bags a bit further away from the door as new passengers from another flight tried to get through it and that was when I heard the shrill squeal.

"BELLSY!"

I turned around and saw none other than my supermodel cousin Rosalie running through the crowds towards me. I also noticed that a lot of men turned their heads in her direction as she was running. I immediately dropped my bags and ran to meet her. As soon as we did we hugged each other tightly. It was so long ago since we last saw each other and I couldn't hold back the happy tears of reunion and when I heard a strangled sob from Rosalie, I knew she felt exactly the same.

"I missed you so much Rosie. You can't even imagine how much," I said as soon as we broke away from each other and looked at the face of the other.

"Believe me Bella I can, I really can. I missed you so much, too. Welcome home!"

"It's good to be back."

"So, where is that friend of yours who's going to move in with us?"

"Right over there. ALICE! Come here, I have to introduce somebody to you."

Alice appeared by my side faster than I thought possible.

"Hey! I'm Alice! Are you Rosalie?"

"Yeah, it's good to meet you Alice."

After Alice and Rosalie exchanged a few more words we got our suitcases and put them in Rosalie's car, a red BMW M3. Rose loved her car and she did all the work on the engine herself.

All my worries that Alice and Rose wouldn't get along vanished on the car ride to our new apartment as Alice and Rosalie kept up talking about their hobbies. To my dismay I was right that their two favorite hobbies were shopping and doing makeovers. Seems like a few more sessions of Bella Barbie would be coming up soon.

"Here we are. Welcome to your new home!" Rosalie said as we arrived in front of a nice looking apartment building.

Home. Yes, that's exactly what it was.

* * *

**Alright, here they are! All 18 chapters rewritten!**


	2. The Coffee Shop

**The Coffee Shop**

After arriving at the apartment building we took our luggage out of the trunk of Rosalie's car and headed up to our apartment on the top floor.

"Rose, how can three unemployed girls afford an apartment in a house like this?" I asked Rose when we walked through the very expensive looking lobby.

It was round and the walls were painted a dull yellow. The floor was made of dark and light brown marble and the furniture was made of dark wood. With the huge golden chandelier over the table in the middle, the lobby looked more like one of a five star hotel rather than an apartment building.

"Actually, this is all Jasper's doing. He lived here before, but moved out about three years ago and never found somebody to buy his old apartment and so he offered it to me when I said I couldn't afford my old one anymore and that I'm gonna move in with some friends. He even had an interior designer re-design the whole apartment."

"Wow, all that even though you practically destroy his house with your parties."

"Yeah, I feel kinda bad about it now, so I decided to not have a huge welcome back party for you, but just a simple little gathering with the people you're really close to. But of course we're gonna do it at his house. I don't wanna have to clean up."

"Jasper will be thrilled," I said sarcastically.

"Oh shut up! He's gonna be so happy you're back that he's not even gonna care about the clean up. Or at least I hope so," Rosalie laughed.

When we reached our floor and stepped into our apartment I was stunned. It was incredible. We dumped our luggage in the hallway, so Rose could give us a little tour.

"Okay, so I had no idea how you wanted your rooms to be, so I just told the interior designer what I thought you'd like. Don't be mad at me if it doesn't meet your expectations! We can always buy new furniture. If Jasper lends us the money that is."

I didn't like the way she said that. I was always the one to throw tantrums when it came to presents and I thought Jasper had already done more than enough for us.

"Don't worry Rose, it'll be fine," Alice said and looked at me uncomfortably. She didn't like this as well. Don't get me wrong, Alice loves to spend other people's money, but only if she knew them.

"Okay, so the first room here is my room," Rose said when we walked into a room that totally fit her personality. It looked like a princess was living there with the chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling and the huge comfortable looking bed.

"Oh. My. God." Alice and I said at once. I don't know what we expected, but it wasn't that.

"Pretty isn't it?" Rose asked.

"Pretty over the top," I answered.

"Oh come on guys! It's perfect! Let's go take a look at your rooms now."

Alice's room was next and just like Rose's it was unbelievable. It was very modern with white walls, white floor and furniture made of very dark wood. It looked like one of those rooms you usually see in magazines for interior design. Alice was speechless at first which is really rare for her, but then she started squealing about how perfect it was and I had to confess she was right, it was perfect. For her.

By the time we reached my room I was scared as hell. Both of the rooms we saw before were not really my kind of thing. I only hoped that Rosie really did know me as well as I thought she did.

All my worries flew right out of the window when I stepped inside my room for the first time, though. It was different and absolutely perfect. I had a huge comfy looking bed and the walls, the floor and the furniture were kept in beautiful shades of brown, red and orange. This was the perfect place to just relax, exactly how it was supposed to be.

"So, what do you think Bella?" I couldn't answer Rose because my room really did take my breath away.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Alice asked concerned and I saw Rosalie's face grew worried either.

"It's so perfect," I whispered and all the worry immediately left their faces and was replaced by huge smiles.

"I knew you'd like it," Rose said. I just nodded. I still couldn't believe this was supposed to be my room.

"Come on, I'll just quickly show you the rest of the apartment."

The kitchen looked really cute with its white cupboards and black countertops. The flowers Rosie placed in it made it look very domestic.

The same counted for our living room that looked very similar to my room which suited me just fine.

We each had our own bathroom which was in the same style as our rooms to make us feel more at home.

After our tour each of us retreated to their room to give the others their space. I just started putting all my clothes into my closet when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

"Hey Bella, I just got a call from the coffee shop we can work at. They said they needed one of us tomorrow morning, but I don't have time, so either you or Alice have to go. Is that alright? I know you're possibly still tired and want to settle in first, but they didn't give me a chance. Either one of us is coming in tomorrow or we all lose our jobs," Rosalie said disgruntled.

"It's fine Rose. I'll go. I actually really need the money right now." I was absolutely broke.

"Thanks Bella, you're the best!"

About an hour later the three of us met up in the living room to decide what to do with the rest of the day. We opted for staying in, watching some movies and drinking some whine. It was really funny as Rose and Alice get very sentimental when they drink alcohol and start crying for no reason at all. I refused to drink too much wine as I had to go to work tomorrow and that was probably a good choice because I was convinced that both Alice and Rose would have really bad hangovers the next day. I mean, who wouldn't if they drank four bottles of wine?

I knew I was right when I walked into the kitchen the next morning and saw the Aspirin package on the kitchen counter and a very bad looking Alice and Rosalie in our huge dining room.

"Good morning ladies. How are you this morning?" I asked overly cheerful. I received a groan from both Alice and Rose as an answer.

"Bella, do you have to scream like that so early in the morning? I feel like my head's gonna explode any second now," Rose said while massaging her temples. Alice only put her hands over hear ears and leaned down to rest her forehead on the table.

I just laughed loudly in response which made them both wince and glare at me.

After having a bowl of cereal for breakfast and getting the directions to the coffee shop from Rose I headed off to work. When I stepped in I was immediately greeted by a girl who looked a few years younger than me.

"Hey! You must be one of the new girls, right? I'm Angela, I work here as well and I'm supposed to show you around."

Angela seemed like a nice girl. While she showed me how to handle all the different machines she told me a lot about herself and I found out that she was twenty and studied English Literature at the University of Washington. It was nice to find out that both of us loved to read and also had a lot of other things in common.

"So Bella, do you still go to college, too?" Angela asked.

"No, I went to college in New York and graduated a few weeks ago."

"Wow, New York! Did you go to NYU?" Angela asked in awe.

"Nope, I went to Columbia."

"COLUMBIA? IVY LEAGUE? If you just graduated from an Ivy League university how come you work at a coffee shop? Aren't people like you supposed to be really successful?"

"Well, I didn't start applying for any jobs yet."

"Oh! What did you study?"

"Journalism."

"Cool! You should apply to the Seattle Times. They always look for new journalists. What do you want to write about?"

"I'm a lot into politics and literature, so something like that."

We continued talking like that all morning, only occasionally stopping if there was a customer. Lunch time was the busiest time in the coffee shop as all those business men from the nearby office buildings came in to grab a cup of coffee and a snack.

"A tall Caffé Latte and three of those chocolate chip cookies, please," an amazingly alluring voice that sounded kind of velvety said when I was just counting the money from the customer before. When I looked up I saw the most stunning emerald green eyes. The guy was about six feet two inches tall and wore a black suit, so I guess he was a business man as well. His hair was in casual disarray and had a very strange reddish-brown color, almost like bronze. His shoulders were broad and even though he was wearing a suit you could see that he had a very well-toned body. Also he had the most gorgeous face I had ever seen before with a strong jaw line and high cheekbones.

"Of course, just a second," I said and he smiled at me.

I walked over to the machine and pressed the right buttons for a Caffé Latte. When I looked into the huge mirror right behind the machine I saw him staring at me which made me really self-conscious. He must have noticed that I caught him staring because he smiled and winked at me, but didn't look away. _How odd_, I thought, but didn't think about it any further. I went over to the other side of the counter to get his cookies, took his coffee from the machine on my way back and handed him both.

"Here you go! It's $6.50!" I said. He grabbed the hand I just handed him his coffee with, brought it to his lips without breaking eye contact and kissed my knuckles. Of course, as always, I blushed instantly.

"The rest is for you beautiful lady," he said as he handed me a ten. I'm sure I looked quite flustered because he chuckled lightly and smiled at me one more time before he turned around and left the shop.

"Wow," was all I whispered.

"Wow doesn't even cover it Bella," I heard Angela say from behind me.

"Who was that?" I asked Angela.

"I have no idea. I have seen him here before, but he isn't a regular, so I wouldn't know his name. What I do know though is that he has never treated any of us the way he just treated you. I would do anything for a kiss like that," Angela swooned. I had to laugh at that.

"Hey, watch out or I'll tell your boyfriend you're swooning over other men in here," I teased.

Angela only laughed. "Ben's used to that. At the beginning he would get really jealous, but by now he knows that no guy could ever live up to him."

After I was done with work I headed straight home. On my way I thought back to the beautiful bronze haired man and I guess I was still grinning stupidly when I walked into the apartment because I was immediately attacked by Alice and Rose.

"What's with the smile?"

"What happened?" Rosalie and Alice asked at the same time. I totally forgot they knew me so well.

After I told them the story they were both squealing.

"What was his name? Did you get his number?" Alice asked.

"No, he left immediately after he handed me the cash and I was too stunned to say something. He's out of my league anyway."

"Oh Bella!" Alice and Rosalie groaned. At this point I was desperate for a distraction because I knew the usual 'Bella, you have to be more confident'-speech was about to come.

"Anyway, I was also told to tell you that one of the two of you has to work at the coffee shop tomorrow, so they can teach you how to handle the machines. As soon as we all got the hang of them we can work together," I said. Luckily that worked. After arguing for about half an hour about who had to get up the next day Alice finally gave in and said that she would go. Apparently Rosalie and her infamous stubbornness won the argument.

By the time they were finished we noticed how late it already was and decided to go to bed. I drifted off to sleep almost instantly because I was so exhausted from the day at the coffee shop and my best friends' interrogations.

That night a certain bronze haired, green eyed god stared in my dream and I was sure that I was constantly smiling into my pillow throughout the night.


	3. Mr Perfect, Mr Gorgeous and Mr Hot

**Mr. Perfect, Mr. Gorgeous and Mr. Hot**

When I woke up the next morning Alice was already gone. That was weird. Alice didn't have to be at the coffee shop until 10 a.m. What time was it?

"Good morning sleepy head," Rose said when I found her lying on the couch in the living room.

"Hey! Where's Alice? What time is it, anyway?" I asked.

"It's 11 a.m. and Alice already left about two hours ago."

"Oh," was my glorious response.

"By the way, you were sleep talking again last night. Seems like you can't get that hot guy out of your head, right?"

I blushed furiously which made Rose laugh. Of course I knew I was sleep talking and I should have guessed that I talked about him as I dreamt of him all night.

"How do you know I talked about him?" I asked shocked. I usually wasn't talking loud enough for anyone outside my room to hear.

"Oh, I snuck into your room this morning to see if you were already up. When I heard you talking I just couldn't leave. I missed listening to you talking in your sleep. I did that every morning when we were still living with my parents, remember?"

I totally forgot that Rose used to listen to me back when we were kids. We shared a room at her parents' house. It was a lot of fun and of course one reason Rosalie knew me this well was that she was listening to my unconsciously spoken thoughts. I was always embarrassed as hell when I woke up and found Rose giggling because I knew I had said something I really didn't want anyone else to know. At the beginning when I first moved in with Rose and her family I was afraid she would tease me about it and tell the others what I had said, but she never did. Not even once did she betray any of the secrets I told her in my sleep.

"Oh yeah, I remember. Thanks anyway," I said feeling the need to tell her how grateful I was.

"For what?" she asked confused.

"For never letting anyone in on the secrets I told you. I owe you big time!"

Rosalie just snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous! What kind of cousin would I be if betrayed your secrets? I love you Bella. You are the sister I always wished for as a little kid," she said and came over to hug me.

"Speaking of siblings, Jasper just called and told me he is back from Dallas. I didn't tell him you're here cause I still wanna surprise him, but we will have to do it soon or he might see you in the city," Rose added.

"Rose, you do know there are millions of people in Seattle, right? The chances of Jasper seeing me here by accident are really slim," I said.

"No, they're not. He works not too far away from the coffee shop. I have to call Mom and Dad and ask them for the key to his house and I have to invite them to our little party. What do you think about doing it tonight? Just you, me, Mom, Dad and maybe Alice."

"I don't know."

"Come on Bella," Rose whined.

"Okay, but only if you promise that there are not going to be more people there than the five of us."

"I promise! But we really have to take Alice along, so she can finally meet my brother or Mr. Perfect as she calls him. They'd be great together." Rose smiled.

"Absolutely! Jasper needs someone as hyper and enthusiastic as Alice," I agreed.

"Definitely! You remember that girl Tanya he was with in high school? I mean, she was super nice and intelligent and sweet, but they kind of never talked. Or at least it felt like it cause they were both so quiet all the time. He needs someone who's different. Someone like Alice," Rose said.

"I agree. We somehow have to make them go out with each other. Oh god, I totally sound like Alice right now," I laughed.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked confused.

"Back in NYC Alice always used to set me up with random guys. It was horrible! She always said I had to get out more and start dating." I laughed.

"Alice is right Bella. You really should start dating. When did you have your last boyfriend? In high school?" Rose asked seriously.

"I've never had a real boyfriend Rose. I was occasionally dating a guy, but I've never had a serious relationship."

"Oh god, we really do have to change that. Maybe I should ask for Alice's help? We could find the perfect guy for you," Rose exclaimed.

"Roooose," I whined.

"Oh come on Bella! We'll go easy on you. Maybe we should just try to hook you up with that guy from the coffee shop." She winked at me.

Of course I blushed really bad at that. Being with a guy like him would be absolutely amazing, but why would a guy who could have any girl he wanted ever be interested in someone like me? I was absolutely average and plain. I had mahogany hair, chocolate brown eyes and pale skin. I was standing at five feet four inches which was absolutely average and I was not at all athletic, but still slender.

"Bella? BELLA! Stop it! I can see it in your eyes. You're being self-conscious again. Bella, you are a beautiful young woman. Why can't you see that?" Rose asked exasperated.

"Rose, you really don't have to say that to make me feel better. We both know that I'm absolutely plain. There's nothing special about me," I answered.

"Dammit Bella! Stop! You're talking bullshit. Do you have any idea how often I wished to look like you? When we were in high school, I was always the usual blond, blue-eyed All-American girl who was desired by guys, but there was nothing unusual or special about my looks. There were tons of girls with the same features. Didn't you notice all the guys staring at you? Didn't you see the intrigue in their eyes? You were different. You had uncommon beauty. Not the beauty you see when you open a fashion magazine, but a beauty that was foreign to many guys cause there hardly are any girls looking like that, Bella," Rose said absolutely enraged.

I just stared at her wide eyed. She wanted to look like me? She thought there was nothing special about her? About Rosalie Lillian Hale, the most desired girl at our school, the supermodel? And what about the thing she said about guys staring at me? Was that true? No, probably not, she was just saying that to make me feel better.

"If you think so. I'll go take a shower and then write some applications, okay?" I said desperate to get away from my cousin.

"Yeah, fine," Rose grumbled.

When I left the room I thought I heard her say something under her breath, but I couldn't make out what exactly it was.

By the time Alice came home I was done with writing applications to several newspapers and broadcasting companies.

"Hey guys! I'm home!" Alice chirped as she walked into the living room where Rose and I were sitting.

"Hey," we said in unison.

"Guess who I have seen today?" Alice asked happily.

I looked at Rosalie confused and I saw that her expression mirrored mine. Alice and I only were here for about three days now and she didn't know anybody yet.

"No idea," Rose and I said at the same time again.

"Well, I met a very handsome young man today at the coffee shop and he asked for a certain beautiful brunette girl he had seen in the shop yesterday," Alice said happily.

Someone was asking about me? Who? Rose seemed to be still confused either.

"So? Someone asked for Bella. What's the big deal? She's a beautiful girl, of course men are interested in her," Rose said while looking at me.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, daring her to resume our argument from earlier. She merely rolled her eyes.

"Let me think," Alice said then. "Oh, right, he was tall, had piercing green eyes and reddish-brown hair," she then continued.

I just gaped at her while Rose squealed next to me. The beautiful stranger from yesterday asked for me? Why?

"By the way Bella, I would totally approve if you started dating him. He's gorgeous, but not so much my type," Alice added.

"Arrgh! Tomorrow I'll go to work in the coffee shop. I finally wanna see Mr. Gorgeous, too," Rose said.

"What did he say?" I asked Alice in a whisper. She smiled brilliantly at me.

"He came in and asked for the brunette barista from yesterday, but I told him you didn't work today. His face fell and I could see the disappointment in it, so I said I didn't know when you'd work again, but he should just come here more often to check. He seemed a bit happier then," Alice retold the story of their meeting.

I really didn't know what to say and only faintly heard Alice and Rose talk about how to best set me up with Mr. Gorgeous as they liked to call him. I was still too confused about his motives. A guy like him couldn't like me, could he?

At some point the shrill ring tone of Rosalie's cell phone brought me out of my reverie. I listened to her talking on the phone to someone, but didn't know what this was all about.

"Hey, Mom just called me and told me she is setting everything up for tonight and that we should come over at 6 p.m., so we're there before Jasper. He's supposed to be home sometime between 6.30 and 7 p.m.," Rose said happily.

"You are going over to your brother's house tonight?" Alice asked.

"Yep, it's just a little family dinner," Rose said.

"Oh, okay, I'll just order in if you guys are not home," Alice said her voice thick with sadness that it almost made me cry.

"What are you talking about Alice? You're going to come with us, of course," I said shocked.

"But you said 'family dinner' and I'm not one of your family members."

"Oh shut up! Alice, you _are_ one of my family members. No one apart from my cousins has ever been as close to me as you are. You are my best friend and sister."

"Really?" Alice asked with tears in her eyes.

"Yes Alice, you and Rose are my sisters, my best friends, the only people who ever really knew and understood me and liked me the way I am. How could I not love you?"

Alice started crying and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back and after a few seconds I felt Rosalie's arms also hugging Alice. We were both whispering words of comfort to her. After a while we broke apart.

"Sisters?" I asked looking at both of them.

"Sisters!" Rose and Alice said in unison. Suddenly Rosalie squealed in delight.

"That is so great! Now I have two little sisters. I love you two so much," She said hugging us again. Both, Alice and I, just laughed at Rose's enthusiasm.

"Okay ladies, I guess it's time to get ready for tonight. Alice, dress up, you're gonna meet Mr. Perfect tonight and I bet you wanna leave a good impression," Rose said and Alice jumped up and ran for her room. She stopped in the doorway of the living room and turned to look at us again with a curious expression on her face.

"OH! Speaking of Mr. Perfect. As I already have Mr. Perfect and Bella has Mr. Gorgeous who is your favorite at the moment, Rose?" Alice asked, eyeing Rosalie closely.

"Alice, you haven't even met Jasper yet," I reminded her.

"Yeah, and you don't really know Mr. Gorgeous either, do you? But still you think he's hot, so shut up! Back to topic! Rose?" Alice said. Of course she knew that what she just said was silly as I had at least seen Mr. Gorgeous, unlike her and Mr. Perfect.

"Actually, I haven't seen any hot and interesting guys lately. Sorry girls," Rose said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Humpf! I didn't expect that. We're gonna find someone for you Rose, your very own Mr. Hot. I have a good feeling about this."

Alice and her feelings, a very strange thing. Anytime Alice would have a good feeling about something it did work out very well in the end, same with the bad feelings. It was weird, but still helpful. I wonder…

"Alice what feeling do you have about you and Mr. Perfect and me and Mr. Gorgeous?" I asked. Rose looked at me confused at first, but when I looked back at her she understood. I told her about Alice's talent.

"I have extremely good feelings about these two men," Alice said, smiling hugely. I smiled back at her.

We were ready to go at 5.30 p.m. and left for Jasper's house. It was a rather long drive as our apartment was in downtown Seattle and Jasper lived in one of the suburbs.

As soon as we arrived there the front door opened and a beautiful, middle-aged, blond woman ran towards us.

"BELLA!" She shouted while running and flung herself into my arms.

"It's so good to see you honey. How are you? Did you miss us? Do you already miss New York? Are you going to leave again? Please say no," she said.

"Mom, calm down," Rose said laughing at the woman.

"Oh, be quiet Rosalie Lillian Hale! I haven't seen my daughter in such a long time," she snapped at Rose and then looked at me again with a huge smile on her face. She always called me her daughter, although technically I was only her niece.

"It's so good to see you again and be back in Seattle, Momma Lillian. I missed you and Daddy Richard so much and I'm not going back to New York," I said trying to answer all her questions.

She let go of me, turned around and called my uncle.

"Richard, she's here!"

A second later my uncle stood in the doorway and the second he saw me a smile broke across his usually gruff face. He walked over and hugged me tightly.

"My baby girl is finally back home," he whispered in my ear.

"Yes and you are not going to get rid of me again anytime soon," I whispered back.

He let go of me and looked at me fully for the first time, his face returning to its usual gruff appearance.

"Seems like I have to watch out for you more carefully now, Bell. You turned into an even more beautiful woman over the last years," he said grumpily, but I only laughed. I never had an overprotective father, however I had an uncle who filled that role perfectly.

After introducing Richard and Lillian to Alice we went inside where Lillian was already preparing dinner. I could tell that both of my 'parents' loved Alice instantly. There was no question that Alice fit into our family perfectly. That thought was confirmed when we walked into the living room and saw Alice in deep conversation with Richard. Rather than disturbing we went into the kitchen and helped Lillian.

When 6.30 rolled around we all gathered in the living room to surprise Jasper there. As if on cue a few minutes later we heard him open the door.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale, I saw your car outside and I swear to god if there's another party in my house I'm personally going to-"Jasper stopped his rant when he saw us all in the living room, but didn't seem to notice me and Alice. He still looked as handsome as I remembered him to be, wearing a dark grey suit. His blond hair was slightly longer and wavier than before, but his ice-blue eyes still held the same gentle expression I remembered.

"Oh! Mom, Dad, Rose what are you doing here?" He asked confused.

They all just shook their heads and laughed at him which was obviously making him even more confused. Rose then pointed her hand in my direction which made Jasper look at me. I smiled and waved at him and after a second of staring at me he finally recognized me and the confusion in his eyes was replaced by pure joy.

"BELLSY!" He exclaimed, rushed towards me and gave me a hug.

"Hey big brother," I said laughing.

"It's so good to see you little sis. What are you doing in Seattle?"

"Well, as you know I graduated a few months ago and thought it was time to go home."

"You moved back?"

"Yup. By the way thanks for letting us stay at your old apartment. The place is so beautiful."

He looked at Rose then and laughed.

"So that's why you refused to tell me your friends' names?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise you and I guess it worked," She smiled at him.

"It did, thanks Rose! But wait a minute! Didn't you say you'd move in with _two_ friends?" He asked her.

"Oh! Jasper, meet our roommate, my best friend from New York, Alice," I said gesturing towards Alice who was standing next to me, smiling at him softly.

"Alice, this is my cousin and brother for all intents and purposes, Jasper," I said.

I already knew that Alice had a slight crush on Jasper, but things had apparently changed. It wasn't just a slight crush any longer. Now that she had seen Jasper I could sense that she liked him a lot and was incredibly attracted to him. What did surprise me though was Jasper's reaction. Of course he was always a gentleman, but also so reserved all the time, so the simple gesture of him taking her hand and kissing it surprised me immensely. I looked at the rest of my family and saw the same expression of surprise on all of their faces, but it changed into one of understanding almost immediately. Rose and I secretly bumped our fists. Mission accomplished.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about Rosalie's, Jasper's and my childhood. It seemed that Richard was on a mission to embarrass Jasper in front of Alice as he told her all the funny things Jasper did or Rose and I did to him respectively. I had never seen Jasper blush this hard and this often before. Especially the story about Rose and me dressing him up as a girl cracked Alice up.

"And then he came out of the room and wore a pink dress and it wasn't just any kind of pink. It was the pinkest pink I have ever seen in my entire life. But that wasn't even the best part! You should have seen his head! He wore bright red lip stick, blue eye shadow, black mascara and his hair was pulled up into several little ponytails. You got three guesses what color the rubber bands were. Pink! The same kind of pink as the dress. It was hilarious," Richard laughed really hard by the end of the story.

It was the same with the rest of us. All of us girls had tears streaming down our faces from laughing so much and Alice actually had to hold on to the table to not fall out of her chair.

"Okay, enough humor at my expense. I don't want our guest to get a bad impression of me," Jasper said sourly.

"Oh come on Jazzy! You had fun that day!" Rose laughed.

"Yeah, so much fun that the two of you had to tie me to the chair when you were doing my make-up," Jasper grumbled in response. That just made us laugh harder.

"You know you love us Jazz," I said laughing.

"Yes. Yes, I do," he said smiling slightly at this point.

"It's not that bad anyway. I did the same thing with my father when I was little as I had no siblings," Alice said.

I choked on my drink when I heard that. After a long coughing fit I looked up at Alice with disbelieving eyes.

"You did that with John?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep!"

"Oh. My. God." I started laughing again as I imagined Alice's father in a dress and Alice immediately joined me.

"What's so funny?" Rose asked.

"Well, to understand this you need to know that Alice's dad, John, is a lot like Daddy Richard here, serious, gruff, grumpy and now just imagine a person like your dad in a pink dress with a lot of make-up and ponytails," I answered.

Now everyone, but Richard laughed.

"Okay, time to go home! Jasper, Rose and I have to work tomorrow," Richard said and got up. We decided it was really time to go home, but made plans to meet Jasper at the coffee shop tomorrow for lunch where he would introduce us to his two best friends. Of course Rose was pissed when she heard that as she would have to serve us and watch us having fun while she had to work.

"Well, if you hadn't been that stubborn last night and made Alice go to work today you could have fun with us tomorrow. Being stubborn isn't always good, Rosie," I said, teasing her.

Rose just grumbled under her breath and walked out to the car with Alice and me giggling right behind her.

We were still giggling at Rose's expression when we reached our apartment. I went to sleep that night being absolutely happy and looking forward to tomorrow. Maybe I would see Mr. Gorgeous again during lunch tomorrow.


	4. Jasper's best friends

** Jasper's best friends **

The following morning I woke up to the sound of arguing somewhere outside my room. Thinking that Alice and Rose were fighting again I got up and walked into the living room to tell them to stop. What I didn't expect was the brunette girl standing across from Rosalie, screaming at my cousin.

"What do you mean, there's another girl he's interested in? He loves me and only me! Tell me her name! I'm gonna strangle her! Jasper's mine," the girl sneered at Rose.

"Jasper isn't yours. He was never even interested in you and now get out! We're done here," Rose said angrily.

"You have no idea! I know Jasper wants me more than anyone else. I see it in his eyes," the girl answered smugly.

She was rather short, shorter than me, but still taller than Alice, and somehow she seemed familiar.

"Rose?" I asked carefully. Both of their heads turned at the sound of my voice.

"Is that her? You bitch! I'm gonna kill you!" The girl screamed and ran towards me. Or at least she tried to because Rose grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her back. Good thing Rose was so tall and strong. That girl didn't stand a chance.

"That, Jessica, is mine and Jasper's younger sister Bella, the one you used to bully in high school," she sneered at the girl and then looked at me, "Bella, you might remember Jessica Stanley."

I did. The moment I heard her name tons of unpleasant memories invaded my mind. Unlike Rose and Jasper, I was never popular in high school, but I didn't mind. I preferred to be left alone anyway. I hardly ever had any problems with other students, mostly because they didn't want to anger Rose and Jazz by making fun of me. There was only one student who never seemed to care about that and her name was Jessica Stanley.

She was head cheerleader and for some unknown reason she hated me from the first time she saw me. She always made fun of me, laughed at me and embarrassed me and I mostly tried to ignore her. Anytime Rose or Jasper would ask if I wanted them to help me and make sure Jessica left me alone I told them she was not worth all the trouble.

But one day in my freshman year at high school I had to let out all the pent-up frustration and hurt inside of me and started crying right in the middle of the hallway at school with other students all around me and Jessica standing right in front of me laughing.

She called me a slut and continued to make fun of me which made all the students around us laugh even more. At some point I was crying so hard I barely noticed how the laughter around me died down abruptly. I looked up and saw all people around me wearing frightened expressions. After a short while I found the source of all the fear. Rose and Jasper were towering above Jessica with absolutely livid expressions on their faces.

The next second I found myself being lead away from the scene by one of Jasper's best friends, Emmett. He was a senior and always really funny and the only one of my cousins' friends who accepted me. The only thing I knew about him was that his parents were really rich, but he didn't really care about that.

He brought me to my next classroom, asked me if I was okay and then walked away smiling. The only thing I heard about what happened to Jessica was that she was expelled from school that day and I hadn't seen her since.

"Bella? Isabella Swan?" Jessica asked me disbelieving.

"Yes, that's me. By the way Jessica, Jasper has a date with a girl he really cares about today and it's not you," I said smiling sweetly at her. One thing I learned at Columbia was to never let anyone bring you down and I was determined to never let her get to me the way she once did again.

"He…date…never…you…different…" Jessica stuttered pointing at me with a shocked expression.

"Yes, Jasper has a date today. Are you done now?" Rose asked annoyed.

Jessica just looked at her and stormed out of our apartment.

"Oh god, I forgot how annoying she is," Rose groaned and flopped down onto the couch.

"Why does she think Jasper likes her anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Apparently they work for the same company and apparently one day she dropped something and Jasper, being the gentleman he is, bent down to get it for her. Since that day she thinks he loves her. I swear that girl is absolutely insane. Jasper even avoids being in the same room as her. Once he even had to run away from her cause she was stalking him at work," Rose exclaimed exasperated.

I just laughed at the image of Jasper running away while Jessica was following him.

After having breakfast together Rose got ready to leave for work, but stopped again in the doorway.

"Oh Bella? Jasper called this morning. He said to tell you and Alice to meet him and his friends at the coffee shop at 12 p.m. and he mentioned something about a surprise."

"A surprise? He knows I don't like surprises," I grumbled. Rose only laughed and left.

Once Alice got up we spend the rest of the morning talking and joking around. I was really relieved when I heard Alice actually liked Seattle. I was always afraid that she would come here with me, but then realize how different Seattle was and that she didn't like it. Luckily that wasn't the case.

When I told Alice about the surprise Jasper was planning she was confused.

"Surprise? He didn't say anything about a surprise last night, did he? He only said he was bringing two of his friends along, right?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, maybe it has something to do with those friends of his," I mused.

"Oh god! I know! He wants to set you up with one of his friends," Alice exclaimed.

"No. Jasper and I once made a bargain to never interfere with the other one's love life and Jasper never breaks his promises," I answered.

"Hmm," Alice said, apparently as clueless as me.

As we left the house to go to the coffee shop I noticed how nervous Alice was.

"Alice, calm down, no need to be nervous. Just be yourself and you should be fine," I tried to reassure her.

"You think so?"

"Absolutely!"

We continued to walk in silence each of us lost deep in thought about what was going to happen until Alice broke me out of my reverie.

"Hey, I want you to try something today," she said happily.

"What?" I asked warily.

"I want you to do me a favor and not be shy around Jasper's friends. I want you to be your usual witty and sarcastic self."

"Do you want to set me up with any of them?" I asked suspiciously.

"No, I don't even know them. For as much as I know they could be George Clooney and Johnny Depp," Alice laughed, "But still I want you to try. We have to practice for you and Mr. Gorgeous. If you wanna have a chance with him you gotta be yourself. You should see this as the first step towards a new, confident and attractive Bella."

"Is there even a point in arguing with you about that?" I asked, rolling my eyes at her.

"Nope. None. You don't stand a chance against me anyway," Alice said cheerfully.

Once we arrived at the coffee shop I looked around to find Jasper, but when I did I felt all the color drain from my face. I grabbed Alice's arm and pulled her into a corner far away from my cousin and his friends where they couldn't see us.

"Alice," I hissed, "Did you know?"

"I swear, Bella, I didn't. I had no idea he was one of Jasper's friends," Alice said.

I peeked at my cousin and his two best friends again and there was absolutely no doubt about it. There, sitting next to Jasper, was none other than Mr. Gorgeous. I didn't know the other guy, although, just like Jessica this morning, he looked strangely familiar.

"Alice, I can't go there. Tell Jasper I didn't feel well and decided to stay at home," I said and turned to leave, but Alice wouldn't hear any of it.

"Isabella Marie Swan, you are so not going home now. This is your chance! Go over there say hi to Jasper and let him introduce you to his friends. Then you are going to talk to them like you knew them your whole life. You're going to be funny, witty, smart and absolutely intriguing and then, before you'll know it, Mr. Gorgeous is going to have the hots for you," Alice said to me insistently.

"This might work for someone like you, but not me," I said exasperated.

"Oh, will you shut up now? I have enough of this self pity. You are going over there right now and if you don't we were friends for the longest period of time," Alice said furiously.

I looked at her dumbstruck. Was she really going to end this friendship over a guy? Looking into her eyes I knew that right now she would.

"Okay. I'll try, but please don't leave me, Alice," I said desperately. I saw her eyes soften at that.

"Bella, I love you! You're my sister, but this has really been going on for too long. You could have any guy you want if you'd just do something. So, now go! I'll wait here and join you in a few minutes. Tell Jasper I had an important phone call to take. The stage is all yours," Alice said and nudged me towards the boys.

I knew immediately that there was no way I was not going to embarrass myself. But then again, who cares? I would never have a chance with him anyway, no matter how I was to act around him, so why not try what Alice said?

I put on a confident smile and walked into the direction of their table. Once I was about two tables away Jasper spotted me and smiled.

"Bella!" He called and got up to hug me. Mr. Gorgeous and the other guy turned their eyes to look at me.

"Hey Jasper," I said as he took me into his arms, "How are you? Did you already miss me?"

I tried to avoid looking at his friends.

"Of course I did! Where is Alice?" He asked looking around.

"She had to take an important phone call. She'll be with us in a second," I said and saw the relief on his face.

"So, are you going to introduce me to your friends?" I added, looking at the guy I didn't know, but before Jasper said anything the guy I was looking at spoke in a booming voice.

"What? You don't recognize me anymore Bells? I'm shocked!" He said with a mock shocked expression on his face.

I looked at him more closely then. He was huge, in every sense of the word. He was about 6 feet five inches and had the body of a bodybuilder. His hair was short and black and when he was smiling you could see cute dimples on his face. Wait a minute! This couldn't be…

"Emmett?" I asked incredulously.

"Yay, you remember!" He said getting up and taking me into a bear hug.

"Emmett…can't breathe," I choked out. He sat me down then.

"Thanks," I breathed out.

"So, Bells, you have changed quite a bit. Or at least I can't remember you looking so hot," Emmett said and winked at me while grinning hugely.

"You look pretty handsome yourself and apparently you got even huger over the last few years, though I thought that was impossible," I laughed.

"Haha! Never underestimate Emmett Cullen," he said, pumping his fists into the air as if he was boxing with someone. That made me laugh really hard.

"I really missed you Emmett. I haven't laughed this hard for ages," I said once I caught my breath.

"And of course you missed handsome teenage me protecting you from the outside world," he said playfully.

"Certainly!" I laughed. I turned back to Jasper then who gestured with his hand towards his other friend, Mr. Gorgeous, whose eyes I had avoided up to that point.

"This, Bella, is Emmett's and my other best friend, Edward Masen. We got to know each other while attending Harvard Business School," Jasper said.

Edward. So that was Mr. Gorgeous's name. A name that fit him perfectly.

"It's nice to meet you Edward," I said extending my hand and looking up into his eyes for the very first time since I entered the coffee shop. They were sparkling like emeralds.

Just like two days ago he took my hand, brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles and just like two days ago I blushed furiously which made him chuckle.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, too, Bella…again," he whispered the last word, so only the two of us could hear it.

"Jasper told us a lot about you. It will be great to get to know you better," he continued with his eyes glued to mine. I couldn't avert my eyes from his.

"Hey! Enough flirting over there Eddie," Emmett said loudly making us jump. Edward turned to glare at him and Emmett seemed to see something in Edward's look that made his jaw drop.

"Oh," was all he said.

I was confused and looked at Jasper who was staring at me with an unfathomable expression on his face. I could see in his eyes that he was suppressing some strong emotion.

After standing there in an uncomfortable silence for a few more seconds we decided to sit down. Edward held a chair out for me like a real gentleman and smiled at me when I thanked him. The others settled down then, too, and Emmett started talking immediately. It was only then that I noticed I was sitting right next to Mr. Gorgeous himself who was still looking at me. I looked over at him and cocked my eye brows in question, but he merely smiled.

Jasper was still watching me which was making me feel slightly uncomfortable. It seemed like none of us really paid attention to what Emmett was saying and I could see him start to protest when Alice decided to join us. Jasper's focus on me was immediately broken once he noticed Alice. He hugged her tightly and I saw Emmett looking at me with a million questions in his eyes. I winked and grinned evilly at him as an answer. The moment he understood his grin matched mine and I knew what was about to come.

"What is going on?" I heard Edward whisper next to me. I turned towards him and smiled.

"You'll see."

He smiled at the hint of evil in both, my eyes and my voice.

"So Jasper, that's the lady you wouldn't shut up about last night on the phone?" Emmett asked with a big grin on his face. Jasper's smile though faltered almost instantly.

"Emmett," he hissed.

"What? I'm just asking! I wanna get to know the future Mrs. Jasper Hale. What's your name pretty little lady?" He said.

My eyes grew huge and I looked at both Jasper and Edward in alarm. Oh oh.

"What's up?" He whispered to me concerned. I just shook my head and nodded towards Alice's purple face.

She was absolutely furious. One thing you should never even think of doing if you want Alice to be your friend was to call her little in any kind of way. Of course, that was exactly what she was, being only four feet ten inches tall (or rather short), but it was a very touchy subject for Alice.

"What did you just say?" Alice asked trying to control her anger. She was absolutely scary.

I guess that was exactly what Emmett thought because I could see the smile leave his face and hear him gulp loudly.

"How are you little lady?" Emmett asked timidly.

"You, me, outside, now!" Alice said pointing first at Emmett, then at herself and then finally at the back door.

Luckily for the rest of us Emmett complied and walked outside with Alice right behind him, still fuming.

"Jasper, if you value Emmett's life you should go out there and try to hold Alice back. It can get quite nasty when she's furious like that," I said. Jasper's eyes widened and then he ran after them.

"What was that?" Edward chuckled next to me.

"That was my best friend Alice and her typical reaction to being called 'little'. Never do that if you want to see the next sunrise," I said laughing.

"I'll keep that in mind. How long is this going to take?" Edward asked laughing with me.

"Well, it depends on how smart Emmett is. If he's not arguing or contradicting her they should be back within the next half an hour. If he does, then the only thing we can do is pray for his soul. And if I recall correctly Emmett has never been the brightest, so let's start making arrangements for the funeral," I said, still laughing.

"Oh, I know some better things to do in the mean time than funeral arrangements," Edward said smiling. I noticed then that his smile was slightly crooked which made my heart stop beating for a little while. He truly was gorgeous.

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked.

"Sure, go ahead," I answered, somewhat curious about what was to come.

"In what kind of relation are you and Jasper? He's been telling us so much about you, especially lately."

"He did? I hope you heard some good things. Anyway, I am Jasper's cousin, but since I moved in with him, his sister and his parents when I was five - my parents died in a car crash - he calls me his sister."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said immediately, apparently horrified about making me sad.

"It's okay, I hardly remember my parents. Momma Lillian and Daddy Richard are like parents for me now," I said smiling when thinking about them.

I could see relief on his face. He was apparently happy he hadn't insulted me in any way.

"So, can I ask you a question now?" I asked.

"Sure," he said nervously, running his hand through his already messy hair. Why was he so nervous? He wasn't like this when he kissed my hand before or two days ago.

"So you're a nerd?" I asked trying to lighten the mood.

He looked at me surprised and questioningly. Apparently he had no idea what I was referring to.

"_Harvard _Business School?" I said, stressing the first word.

When he finally comprehended he burst out laughing. It was a contagious laugh and I couldn't help myself and started laughing, too. It took us a long time to calm down and stop our laughing fit.

"Are you prejudiced?" He asked still chuckling.

"Yep! Harvard equals nerd," I said still laughing. It was then that a voice interrupted us.

"Says the girl who graduated from Columbia. You're such hypocrite, Bella." I had to laugh at Alice's comment. Of course she was absolutely right.

Jasper and Alice laughed with me while Emmett and Edward just stared at me dumbfounded.

"What?" I asked them.

"You went to Columbia?" Emmett asked me.

"Yep. Columbia Graduate School of Journalism," I said proudly.

Right then Rose came walking up to us.

"Hey guys I'm done for the day. Mind if I join you?" Rose asked.

"Not at all. Here have a seat," Emmett said before anyone else could reply and jumped up to hold a chair out for Rose. We all looked at Emmett in surprise. Not even in high school has he ever shown any gentlemanliness, so this was a surprise for all of us.

But Emmett saw none of the looks we gave him because he only had eyes for Rosalie. I looked at Jasper and saw that his overprotective side was about to burst through. I nudged Alice and nodded towards Jasper. She understood immediately.

"Actually Rose we just wanted to leave, but why don't you and Emmett stay a bit longer? You'll have to catch up on a lot of stuff, won't you? It's been such a long time since high school," I said casually.

Jasper's eyes turned towards me in a glare, but I ignored him completely and got up. Edward seemed to understand what I was doing and got up as well and bid his friend goodbye after shortly introducing himself to Rose. Jasper was still shooting daggers in both Rose's and my direction when Alice finally decided to intervene. It was unbelievable, Jasper knew Alice for less than 24 hours, but still she had complete control over him already.

"Yep, sorry we can't stay any longer. You two have fun," she said and towed Jasper towards the door where Edward and I were already waiting.

Rose nodded towards Edward, Alice and me thankfully and then glared at Jasper before giving Emmett her undivided attention.

Once outside Alice and Jasper went a short distance away from us to say goodbye to each other privately.

"Thanks for the nice time Edward. I had a lot of fun," I said looking at him. He smiled at me again and his smile made my heart stop once more. It was kind of tender and soft and so different from before.

"I did, too. When will I see you again?" He asked quietly, nervous again.

"Just come and visit me while I'm at work. It gets really boring after a while," I said smiling softly.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Bella, come on! Let's go home," Alice said coming up beside me.

"Okay, let's go. Have a nice day Edward," I answered.

"You too, Bella," he said and I thought I saw a bit of sadness in his face as I left. I'm sure I just imagined it.

When we reached our apartment Alice started to squeal.

"Okay, it is so time for a couch meeting once Rose gets back," she said.

Couch meetings were pretty usual for Alice and me. Every time one of us had any kind of problems or a story to tell we would call in a couch meeting. The only rules were that we had to speak the truth and nothing but the truth.

Alice was right. After today all three of us probably needed a girlfriend to talk to, a girlfriend we could tell everything and trusted. Of course it was not hard to guess what the topic of tonight's meeting would be.

"Oh yes Alice, yes it is."


	5. Meetings and memories

**Meetings and memories**

"Where the hell is she?" I asked very annoyed.

It's been five hours since we got home, but still there was no sign of Rose.

"What if something happened to her?" Alice said concerned. I just snorted.

"Rosalie started kickboxing when she was twelve and I've seen her punch guys in the face more than once. She's incredibly strong for a girl," I tried to reassure Alice, although I was a little anxious about Rose's whereabouts as well. Usually she called to tell us if she wanted to stay out longer, so we wouldn't worry about her.

After waiting for another thirty minutes for her to return we finally heard Rosalie unlocking the front door. Both, Alice and I got up, folded our arms across our chests and glared in Rose's direction.

"Hey guys," Rose said cheerfully, but stopped dead immediately when she noticed our angry expressions.

"Guys?" She asked timidly sitting down on the couch.

"What the _hell_ were you _thinking_? We were worried about you. Explain where you have been," Alice screamed at her while I just continued to glare.

"Well, I was with Emmett," she answered.

"What do you mean you were with Emmett? The coffee shop already closed about three hours ago," I said.

"Well, that's true and believe me, I did want to come home then, but Emmett insisted on taking me out to dinner," Rose said in a dreamy voice.

Both Alice and I relaxed our postures at hearing her swoon over Emmett. Apparently she had a story to tell and Alice and I wouldn't rest until we knew every single detail of her afternoon with Emmett.

"Okay, Rose, you're forgiven, but please give us a call next time. We really were worried about you," I said and Alice nodded.

"I promise. I would have called you, but I totally forgot about the time," Rose said.

Nodding, Alice joined Rosalie on the couch whereas I sat down on the ground in front of them.

"So ladies, now that we are finally complete it's time to start our first couch meeting together. Just to tell you the rules Rose, or rather the one rule we actually have, there is absolutely no lying. You have to tell us everything," Alice said eyeing Rose intently before she continued, "So, first question to you Rose. Is Emmett Mr. Hot?"

"Absolutely! Didn't you see all his muscles? His body is amazing. Of course he's slightly stupid, but I can live with that," Rose grinned.

"Yeah, I noticed that part today," Alice grumbled, still angry for being called 'little'. Rose looked at us questioningly and I quickly told her what happened between Alice and Emmett.

"You two didn't really have the best start, did you?" Rose laughed while Alice scowled at her.

"By the way Alice, what happened between you and Emmett outside? You were back faster than I thought," I asked.

"Oh, you have no idea how easy it was to intimidate him. I only told him that in case he ever made any more snide comments about my height I was going to tie him to a chair, dye his hair bright pink with purple highlights, paint his nails in the same color and use water-proof make-up that fit his new hairstyle and his nails to complete the look. He was absolutely terrified," Alice laughed.

Rose and I joined in her laughter imagining Emmett standing in front of a mirror and desperately trying to get rid of the make-up on his face with some water. Of course I couldn't blame Emmett to be terrified of Alice. She was absolutely scary when she was furious.

"Speaking of coming back inside sooner than expected, you and Mr. Gorgeous looked pretty cozy when we came back," Alice said curiously.

"Yeah, it was amazing. It's really weird, but he was so easy to talk to. It felt like I've known him my whole life when we were joking about funeral arrangements for Emmett," I said sighing happily at the memory.

"You two would be the cutest couple. You look so great together and believe me I would know cause I watched you guys talking from a distance," Rose said smiling.

"I don't know. It's just that he looks so perfect and I'm just a plain, average girl." I said sadly.

"Bella, you are neither plain nor average. Believe us, it's true and we know it and apparently so does Mr. Gorgeous. What's his name anyway? I know he told me, but I was a bit distracted back in the coffee shop," Rose asked, blushing slightly.

"Edward. Edward Masen," I answered, smiling a bit at Rose's embarrassement.

"Hmm, nice name. I think I've heard it somewhere before. At least the last name," Rose mused.

"You have?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure, but I think Mom mentioned it once, but I really can't remember the context," Rose mused.

"Oh," was all I responded, not thinking too much of it. After all Masen wasn't really an uncommon name. Jasper had probably told Aunt Lillian something about Edward. They were best friends after all.

"Alright, let's get back to the original topic. Tell us about your afternoon with Emmett," Alice said impatiently.

"There isn't that much too tell. We simply talked about anyone and anything, about which colleges we went to and what we've done since high school in general. It was really fun. He hasn't changed at all since he graduated," Rose laughed.

"Yeah, I noticed. He still loves to tease people. By the way, is Emmett your age or older? I can't remember him graduating from high school with you," I asked Rose.

"No, he's not the same age. He's 27, so he's a year older than me. What about Edward? How old is he?" She asked me.

"I have no idea. We didn't talk about our age at all, but I guess he's around Jasper's or Emmett's age," I answered. "Anyway enough about us. Tell us about Jasper, Alice."

"Jasper's simply perfect. He's charming, caring, loving, kind, modest and so many other things, but we'd still sit here tomorrow if I tried to list them up," Alice said staring off into space.

"So, Mr. Perfect is as perfect as you imagined?" I asked her teasingly.

"Better than I could have ever imagined," Alice whispered, still lost in thought.

"Did you kiss him already? You two did look rather cozy when you said goodbye."

"No. No, we didn't, unfortunately," Alice said sadly.

I patted Alice on the back reassuringly, when Rose suddenly started squealing.

"I have an idea," she exclaimed. Alice and I both looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"What?" We asked in unison.

"What about we make a bargain? If we kiss or even have sex with the guys we have to tell the others how it was in detail."

I blushed furiously just thinking of kissing or sleeping with Edward. It was not like that was ever going to happen, but still I was apprehensive about the bargain at first, not sure whether I wanted to hear about my cousin's qualities in bed.

"Won't it be awkward to hear how your brother is in bed, Rose? I mean,-" I asked, but Alice soon cut me off.

"That's a great idea! I'm so in!" Alice said enthusiastically. Both of them looked at me expectantly then.

"I really don't know about that, guys…" I said.

"Oh come on Bella! There is nothing to be ashamed of. We're your sisters," Rose said.

"Rose is right, Bella. You can trust us," Alice agreed.

When I didn't immediately agree they both turned their puppy dog eyes on me.

"Aaargh! It's the look!" I said jokingly trying to look away from the force of their eyes, knowing I wouldn't be able to resist then.

"Please, Bella! Pretty, pretty please agree to the bargain," Alice said and then I made the mistake and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Oh, dammit! Fine! I'm in! You happy now?" I asked exasperated while Alice and Rose both started jumping on the couch in excitement.

After a while I had enough and decided to go to bed since I was incredibly tired.

"Okay, I'm tired. See you in the morning," I said, yawning while I got up from the floor.

"Oh! Hey! I totally forgot to tell you. I talked to our boss today and she said we're free on weekends which means we don't have to work the next two days," Rose told us, also heading towards her bedroom.

"Good, I want to sleep in tomorrow. Good night ladies," Alice said and closed her bedroom door.

Once lying in bed I thought about all the things that happened today. I was still amazed about how easy it was to talk to Edward. He really seemed to be a decent guy. Maybe it would at least be possible for us to be friends as I had no chance of actually dating him someday. With that knowledge I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Alice and Rosalie tried to persuade me to go shopping with them, but I declined, telling them I preferred going for a walk in Discovery Park. As usual Alice questioned my sanity after saying that, but what else would you expect from a shopaholic like Alice? The beauty of nature is something Alice simply didn't see nor understand.

I looked out of the window and the simple fact that for once it wasn't raining made my day. It was rather rare to have a day without rain in fall here in Seattle. All the same I put on my warm, water-proof coat and boots, left the apartment and decided to go to Discovery Park by foot as it wasn't that far away from our home.

When I arrived there I quickly made my way over to my favorite place. It was a small, secluded and quiet part of the beach in sight of the old lighthouse. I sat down on the sandy beach and looked out onto the water, old memories resurfacing. This place was one of the very few that still held a memory of my parents. Every weekend my parents and I would drive from Forks to Seattle to visit my aunt and uncle and spend time with them. My parents stayed in the guest bedroom and I would share a room with either Jasper or Rosalie, but mostly the latter, at Richard's and Lillian's house. I loved those weekends because I got to spend time with my best friends and my loving uncle and aunt. Each Sunday before we drove home the three of us used to come to exactly this part of the beach to spend some time there. It was one of the most beautiful, innocent and pure memories I had. My Dad and I were running around laughing while he tried to catch me and once he did he took me into his arms and spun me around before sitting down to tickle me. My Mom always sat nearby and laughed at our little games and when we were done Dad and I would walk over to Mom and we would watch the birds flying over the water.

I felt sadder than I ever had in the past 19 years since my parents' death. The memories of my parents had never been clearer or felt more real than right that moment with me sitting there looking out onto the water and watching the birds just like I used to do when I was a little kid.

I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears and closed my eyes, listening to my surroundings.

Not only the nice memories seemed to be clearer that moment, but also the terrible ones, the ones that still gave me nightmares from time to time. As I was lying there I remembered the day my parents died and how I only survived because of fortunate circumstances. Recalling the events of that fateful day I felt the tears streaming down my face through my closed eyelids. A quiet sob escaped my lips and I put my head between my knees, trying to regain control over my emotions.

"Bella?" A soft, velvety voice asked from behind me. Although it was quiet I still jumped in surprise and spun around to look at the person behind me.

I looked up into Edward's smiling face, but almost immediately his expression changed and the smile was replaced by a look of concern when he saw the tears on my face.

"Bella," he said alarmed and walked over to me quickly. He sat down right in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Bella, are you okay? What happened? Why are you crying?" He asked, looking intently into my eyes.

"I'm fine," I said, but my voice cracked at the end when I remembered what I had been thinking about seconds before. Fresh tears were streaming down my face and a new round of sobbing started.

Edward didn't say anything, but took me into his arms, rocked me slightly from side to side and whispered words of comfort into my ear.

"Shh, Bella, it's fine. Everything's going to be fine. I'm here with you," he whispered.

He held me until I stopped crying and even then he didn't completely release me, he still held both my hands in his.

"Bella, what happened? And don't say 'nothing'. You don't just simply start crying, though nothing happened," he told me sternly.

"It was just an old, sad memory. Nothing special," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. I looked him directly in the eyes then. His beautiful green eyes didn't look curious, only concerned.

"I never talked to anyone about it before," I said, still not sure whether to tell him or not.

"I don't mean to pry, but believe me, talking about it helps," he said, his thumbs rubbing circles on the back of both of my hands.

He was right. I took a deep breath and started retelling what happened that one day 19 years ago.

"When I was still a kid my parents and I lived in a small town named Forks about three or four hours away from Seattle. We used to go to Seattle every weekend to visit the Hales. Every Sunday before going back to Forks we came to this part of the beach to spend time together, just the three of us. One day, though, it was different. It was a warm summer day and as usual my parents and I were here, only this time we were accompanied by Rose, Jasper, Lillian and Richard. We had a great time together and laughed a lot that day. Richard and Lillian had both taken a few days off from work and decided to come to Forks with us. I was thrilled. Jasper and Rose were my best friends and they were coming home with me. At some point we decided it was time to leave. I wanted to ride with Jasper and Rose and so I begged my Mom to let me do so. The Hales had a huge van with, I think, seven seats at that time, so neither my Mom nor my aunt saw any problems with that. I got in, but it wasn't as much fun as I expected because both, Rose and Jasper, fell asleep almost instantly. I stared out of the window for the rest of the drive, watching the scenery outside. I've always been one to appreciate the beauty of nature. Once it got dark, though, and I didn't see anything anymore I turned and watched my parents' car through the windshield from my second row seat. I saw my Mom gesturing wildly, the way she always did when she told a joke or a funny story. I remember that I smiled thinking about how my poor Dad probably had to listen to her talking non-stop the whole way from Seattle to Forks. By that time we were already pretty close to Forks."

At this point I took a deep breath and looked away from him. The next part was already hard enough without seeing the pity that will surely be there in his eyes once I finished telling my story.

"We were about to round a corner when suddenly a truck driver on the other side of the road lost control over his truck right in that corner. The truck and my parents' car had a head-on collision. My parents died instantly."

I choked at the end of my speech, once again on the verge of tears.

Suddenly I felt Edward's hand touch my cheek. I turned towards him and the look in his eyes surprised me. It wasn't pity. The only things I saw in his eyes were sadness and pain for what had happened to me.

"I'm so sorry Bella. That must have been horrible. How old were you?" He whispered.

"I was five. I remember that as soon as we stopped I jumped out of the car running towards my parents' car, although the thing didn't look like a car anymore. It looked like a pile of twisted metal. Before I could get there though, my aunt caught me and held me back. I struggled against her hold, wanting to help my parents. She never let go, though, and I'm thankful for that. I don't know what I would have done if I had seen my parents' corpses. At some point I stopped fighting against her and started crying. Somehow I knew they wouldn't come back to me, I knew I was alone from then on. Lillian told me that I cried for days without a break and not even Jasper and Rose could calm me down. The funeral was worst, though. I never really thought about funerals before, so I was shocked to see that they put my parents into a hole in the ground and then threw soil on their coffins. I was traumatized after that. I went completely numb. I refused to sleep, eat and talk. Lillian and Richard were so worried they sent me to see a professional. I was getting better after a while and at some point I was nearly back to normal. I was never the same again, though. Never again was I the carefree kid I used to be with my parents. I matured quickly and because of that I hardly had any friends my age. I was constantly bullied at school and the only ones sticking up for me, at least until they graduated, were Rose, Jasper and Emmett. I owe them big time."

It felt so good to finally talk about it that I totally forgot who I was actually talking to. His eyes still held the same sadness and pain as before as he spoke.

"I'm so sorry for you Bella. I can't imagine how it was for you to see your parents die," he said quietly, his hand still resting against my cheek, stroking it lightly.

"Thank you for listening. It felt good to talk about it," I smiled at him slightly and he returned my smile.

"You're very welcome. I can sympathize with parts of your story. I wasn't very popular in high school either, but I never had someone to stick up for me," he said. I just looked at him dumbfounded. He wasn't popular?

"You look confused. Let me explain. In high school back in Portland I was generally seen as a geek or a nerd as you called it yesterday. Straight A's everywhere. I didn't have to study hard, it all just came naturally to me. Of course, I was the target of my classmates' jealousy because of that. Nobody liked me, although I was on the soccer and basketball team. They either bullied or ignored me. I don't know what's worse, though. Being treated badly or being treated like you don't exist. Luckily that changed in college. You could say I was surrounded by nerds then," he laughed. He had a beautiful laugh, very masculine and deep.

"Yeah, right, Harvard," I said smirking.

"Hey, don't give me that smirk, missy. You went to Columbia," he said. I laughed.

"I take it you went to Harvard on a scholarship?" I asked.

"Yeah. There is no way my parents could have paid for my fees there. Did you get a scholarship for Columbia?"

"Yeah, I did. Even with all the money my parents left me I couldn't have paid for Columbia."

Suddenly we heard thunder somewhere in the distance.

"Uh oh. We better get going. Seems like there's a thunderstorm coming," I said, getting up.

"Do you have any plans now?" He asked me.

"No, why?"

"You want to go grab some lunch with me?" He asked shyly.

"Sure! I'd love to," I said, smiling. He smiled his crooked smile in return and took my hand as we walked away. It was a very natural gesture and his big, warm hand felt wonderful in my small one.

"There's a really good Italian restaurant nearby, you want to go there?" He asked.

"Sure," I answered.

We walked for about five minutes in comfortable silence until we arrived at 'La Bella Italia'.

"Here we are," Edward said holding the door for me.


	6. La Bella Italia

**La Bella Italia**

The restaurant was beautiful. The walls were painted in a dull yellow color, the furniture was dark wood and the lamps on the walls bathed the room in a warm, dim light. On each table there was a white tablecloth, a bouquet of flowers and a candleholder.

"Wow," was all I said as I looked at Edward who smiled at me.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"It's beautiful," I breathed out.

"There are things a lot more beautiful than this," he said and kissed my hand, looking into my eyes deeply.

My heart stopped beating at the intensity of his gaze. Was he talking about me? Impossible.

"Good evening, welcome to 'La Bella Italia', how can I help you?" The elderly looking host asked in a thick Italian accent. First he looked at me and then at Edward and his whole expression changed from professionally polite to genuinely happy.

"Edward! It has been so long! How are you?"

"I'm very good, Francesco, what about you?" Edward said smiling at the old man.

"Bene, grazie! Who is the beautiful lady you brought along?" Francesco asked, looking at me.

Edward introduced us to each other and as soon as Francesco heard my name he started smiling.

"Bella. The perfect name for you. Do you know what 'bella' means in Italian? It means 'beautiful'," Francesco smiled at me. I smiled back timidly and Francesco winked at me. I had to giggle and blushed when I realized the old man was flirting with me.

"Hey, stop that you big flirt or I'll go and get Giulia," Edward said teasingly.

"Was somebody calling my name?" an elderly woman asked in the same Italian accent as she rounded the corner, "Edward," she exclaimed and came over to hug him. "It is so good to see you and I see you finally brought a girl with you." She smiled at him.

"Yes, I did. Giulia, this is Bella." Just like her husband Giulia started smiling.

"It's a good thing you're here now, Giulia. Francesco was just about to start flirting…again," he added the last word with a laugh.

"Francesco," Giulia said in a stern voice, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"Mi dispiace, Giulia," Francesco said quietly, smiling slightly. He looked like a boy who was just caught doing something he shouldn't. I had to smile at that. You could see in their eyes how much these two actually adored each other.

"Stop bothering these two and show them to their table," Giulia scolded Francesco.

We were led to a table in a quiet corner of the restaurant. Above our table there was a beautiful painting of a landscape with small hills, large pine-trees and cypresses and a few small little cottages. Edward must have noticed how fascinated I was by the picture and started telling me a bit about the painting.

"This was painted by Francesco's mother in 1954 when he was about ten years old and still lived in a small town close to Florence in Italy. His mother gave it to him when he left for America to start a new life here. She wanted him to remember the place he came from. When he gets homesick you can still find Francesco sitting at this table, staring at the picture," Edward told me quietly.

"You know them pretty well, don't you?" I asked.

"Yes, they're some of my parents' best friends. They got to know each other when Francesco and Giulia still lived in Portland."

"Right, you mentioned before you're not from Seattle. Which Portland are you from?"

"I'm from the one in Oregon. Have you ever been there?" He asked me.

"No, but my Mom and my aunt went to college there. They always said it's one of the most beautiful cities in the whole country."

"Oh, it is! If you ever get the chance you should definitely visit it. I could give you a little tour around then if you want," he smiled at me.

"Okay, deal! Why did you move to Seattle anyway?" I asked him.

"Honestly, it was all because of Em and Jazz. They are the only friends I've ever had and I simply didn't want to lose them after college, so I asked Em whether there was some kind of job for me at his parents' company. He talked to his Dad and a few days later I signed my contract. I still feel a little bad cause I got a very well paid job and became one of the most important people in the company, although I didn't have any experience. Apart from the occasional internship, of course," he said.

"Your co-workers must have been pissed," I laughed.

"Believe me, they were. It took me a long time to convince them of my abilities, but now we get on just fine."

"Tell me a little bit more about you. I feel like you already know my whole life story and I know hardly anything about you," I said, trying to keep him talking.

"Okay, but it's going to be boring. There was no real drama in my life. My full name is Edward Anthony Masen. I'm 27 years old. My birthday is June 20th and my hometown is Portland, Oregon, as you already know. I lived there until I finished high school and left for Boston to go to college there. I graduated from Harvard Business School three years ago together with Emmett and Jasper, that little nerd. I still can't believe he graduated a year early!" He said, shaking his head.

"Ha ha, seems like Jasper was even more of a geek than you and Emmett," I laughed.

"Yeah, Jasper was the king of all geeks at Harvard," Edward snickered.

"By the way Bella, how old are you?" Edward asked curiously.

"Hey, did your Mom never teach you any manners? Never ask a woman how old she is, Edward," I laughed, mock punching his arm which made him smile.

"I'm 24 and my birthday is September 13th," I told him anyway.

We continued our conversation until Francesco came over to take our order.

"Penne all'arrabbiata and a glass of white wine for me, please," Edward said.

"And what can I get you, beautiful Bella?" Francesco winked at me. I blushed furiously again which made him laugh.

"I'll take the mushroom ravioli and a glass of white wine," I said, smiling at him shyly.

"I like this girl Edward. You should keep her," Francesco said and although I didn't think it was possible I blushed even harder than before.

"Francesco, Bella isn't my girlfriend," Edward told him. "Purtroppo," he added in Italian.

Francesco gave him a fatherly pat on the back and said something to him in Italian. Once he was gone we resumed our conversation from before.

"By the way, are you fluent in Italian?" I asked.

"Yeah, Francesco and Giulia started teaching me Italian when I was three, I think. You can probably imagine that, being the nerd I am, I was eager to learn it and I have to say it comes in handy from time to time if you're fluent in another language. You can always impress other people," he said, smiling his crooked smile.

"Yeah, I agree. Whenever I was pissed at my professor in New York I just cursed at him in another language. It was funny cause he always wanted to know what I had said, but I never told him," I smiled at the memory.

"What language do you speak?" He asked slightly panicked now.

"Hey, what's up? You okay?" I asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just answer my question," he said, his eyes wide.

"I speak German," I said and I saw the relief on his face.

"Hey! Tell me what's going on," I said and he knew that there was no way I would let this go.

"Okay, so, I was afraid you'd speak Italian cause Francesco said some totally embarrassing things I really didn't want you to hear a second ago," he said. That sounded logical.

"So, say something German," He said.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Hmm…just say 'I'd like to have a glass of white wine'."

"Very creative Edward. Ich hätte gerne ein Glas Weißwein."

"Wow! Will you teach me something?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" I said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"What does 'Emmett, you are such a dork' mean in German?" He asked and I had to laugh really hard.

"You want me to teach you how to insult Emmett without him understanding any of it?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"Okay, it means, 'Emmett, du bist so ein Depp'."

"Emmett, du bist so ein Depp?" He asked, pronouncing the words carefully.

"Perfect," I said smiling.

I didn't realize how hungry I actually was until Giulia brought us our food and my stomach started to grumble loudly.

"Seems like someone's pretty hungry," Edward laughed.

While we were eating we continued our conversation and I found out some more interesting details about Edward. His father worked as a lawyer and his mother was a professor for psychology at Reed College, he was a single child just like me and couldn't live without his one favorite hobby, music.

"When I was younger my Mom always tried to persuade me to put some of my old CDs I hardly listened to anymore in the basement. I always declined and after some time every shelf in my room was full of CDs and my Mom would throw a lot of tantrums and even threaten me to throw some of my CDs away. My Mom and I had huge fights back then. Dad always stayed a safe distance away from us, probably fearing for his own life. Eventually he had enough, though, and suggested a music room for me in the basement as a compromise. It was a brilliant idea. I still spend a lot of time down there when I visit them," he said laughing.

"Good thing your Dad's a lawyer. I bet he's a pro at making compromises," I laughed along.

"Yeah, I guess Mom and I would have never stopped fighting if it wasn't for Dad."

"So, do you play any instruments?" I asked him then.

"Yes, I play the piano and the guitar, though I prefer the piano."

"Wow, that's cool! I've had piano lessons when I was little, but I just never got the hang of it." I laughed remembering my attempts at becoming a pianist.

"I bet you weren't that bad," he said, smiling at me.

"Oh yes, I was. Just ask Jasper! I could clear a room within seconds cause I played so horrible," I laughed.

"I can't believe that," he answered, still smiling.

"I'll have to show you sometime. But only if I get a little performance from you in return," I said.

"Deal! I'd love to play for you sometime."

We continued to talk for hours, not noticing what happened around us or how late it was, so I was pretty shocked when I saw that it was already dark outside.

"How late is it?" I asked him.

"Oh! It's already eight," he answered surprised.

"I have to go or Alice and Rose are going to kill me," I said.

"No worries. Let me just pay for the food, so we can leave," he said, getting up to pay.

"Hey! Wait! Here, take the money," I said, handing him some money for the food, but he wouldn't take it.

"My treat," was all he said as he quickly walked away, leaving no room to argue. A few minutes later he was back and helped me out of my chair and into my jacket. He was a real gentleman.

It was cold outside and I started to say goodbye when he cut me off.

"I'm not going to let you walk home alone in the dark, Bella," he said and just like before he took my hand in his. We didn't talk much, just enjoyed each other's company. At some point, though, I started shivering and Edward noticed. He let go of my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, rubbed up and down my arm and pulled me closer to him in order to keep me warm.

"Thanks," I said quietly, looking up at him.

"You're very welcome," he said, smiling down at me and his beautiful eyes sparkled. After a while I sighed and leaned into him even more and his grip tightened as if to make sure I couldn't escape his embrace. Not that I wanted to anyway.

He walked me up to our apartment without changing our positions. I was not ready to let him go yet, not knowing when we would see each other again. It seemed he felt the same way as we looked into each other's eyes for a few more minutes.

"I think I should go inside now," I sighed, not really wanting to, but knowing I had to.

"Yeah, Rose and Alice are probably wondering where you are," he said quietly. I nodded and grabbed my keys out of my pocket, but before I could open the door I was stopped by a warm hand on my shoulder.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I just wanted to ask what you are doing tomorrow," he said. Did he maybe want to spend time with me again?

"I'm not sure yet. Why?" I asked.

"Would you like to do something with me tomorrow?" He asked, suddenly being very shy.

"Yes, I'd love to," I smiled timidly.

It was really weird. Not once this afternoon did I feel shy or ashamed around him, but now that we were discussing actually meeting each other, not just running into each other by coincidence, it was all different.

"Perfect. Can I have your number, so I can call you?" He asked, still being shy.

"Sure." I took his phone and gave him mine so we could exchange phone numbers.

"Okay, so, I'll see you tomorrow then?" I asked.

"Yes, see you tomorrow, Bella," he said.

Suddenly he started to lean in and my breathing accelerated. What was he doing? He was not going to kiss me already, right? He came closer and closer and then finally touched his lips to my forehead and kissed it tenderly.

"Goodnight, beautiful," he breathed against my forehead.

"Goodnight Edward," I said just as quietly and turned to open my door as soon as he pulled back. Once I had opened the door I looked back into the hallway, but he was already gone.

As I entered the apartment I was still in a daze, so I didn't even notice the two girls sitting on the couch with their arms crossed over their chests and eyes focused solely on me.

"Where have you been?" Alice asked.

"Out," was all I said as I looked at her with wide eyes, still not comprehending what just happened at the front door.

"And where exactly is 'out'?" Rose asked then. Up until then I didn't even notice their angry expressions.

"Park…restaurant…kiss…Edward," I stuttered, not able to form a coherent thought yet.

"Wait a second! Park, restaurant, kiss and EDWARD?" Alice screeched.

Hearing the shrill tone of her voice I finally snapped out of it and blushed furiously.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, missy," Rose said, eyeing me carefully the whole time.

"Rose is right. We want details," Alice said.

I couldn't help the huge smile that spread across my face as I told them exactly what had happened. How Edward and I had met at the park, how he had invited me to have lunch with him, how we had kept talking for ours, how he had walked me home with his arm around my shoulders and last but not least how he had kissed my forehead just a few moments ago. When they heard that, Rose and Alice couldn't hold back their squeals and threw their arms around me.

"Oh my god, Bella. He's such a gentleman and he's _definitely _interested in you," Rose said.

"Rose is right, Bella. He's perfect for you," Alice agreed.

"I know he's perfect. It's just that I don't understand what he sees in me. Of course we have some things in common, but then again we are so different. What does he like about me?" I said.

"Bella, you're his equal. And not just mentally, but also physically! That's what he likes about you," Alice said.

"I don't understand," I said, completely confused.

"Okay, let me explain. People like Edward usually don't meet people like you. They either meet someone who has the most glorious body, but is absolutely dense, or they meet someone who has the most interesting personality, but looks like they have never taken a look at their own reflection in the mirror. You, Bella, are different for him though. Alice, back me up," Rose said.

"Yeah, you are both, beautiful and smart. He finds himself not only being intrigued by your personality, but also desiring your body," Alice added.

I looked at both of them dumbfounded. Was that true? I knew that I felt exactly that way about Edward, but was it possible for _him_ to feel the same? Could he be as attracted to me as I was to him?

"Bella, I can see what you are thinking and yes, he does feel that way. Actually we can prove that, right Rose?" Alice said.

"Yes, I talked to Emmett today and he told me he has never seen Edward this way before. He couldn't stop asking Jasper about you as soon as he found out who you were. You remember that day we all met at the coffee shop? Edward went home with Jasper and tried to ask him stuff about you. Of course, Jasper, being the overprotective brother he is, wouldn't have that. Actually Emmett told me that Jasper interrogated both, him and Edward, about what they wanted from us and threatened them that if they ever hurt us he would kill them. But it doesn't seem like that would stop them, does it?" Rose laughed.

"He asked questions about me?" I whispered.

"No, he _tried_ to ask questions about you," Rose said and smiled at me warmly before she continued. "Bella, he wants to be with you for all the right reasons. We can all see that. Even Jasper can, although he's trying very hard to ignore it."

"But don't worry about Jasper, Bella! I'll take care of that. He didn't seem to mind anyway when I talked to him today," Alice grinned at me.

"Thanks- hey, wait a second! Today? When did you meet Jasper today? And when did you meet Emmett today, Rose? Weren't you supposed to be shopping?" I asked, looking at both of them.

"Yeah, well, we were shopping, but it so happened that we bumped into them at the mall and then…err…walked our separate ways," Rose said.

"You separated to be with Emmett and Jasper?" I asked.

"Yes," they said in unison.

"Care to share the details? I have a right to know. I told you about my day," I said.

"Well, actually I have something to confess anyway," Rose said, smiling brightly before she continued, "I kissed Emmett."

Both Alice and I threw our arms around Rose and bombarded her with questions about how it was.

"Hold on guys! Okay, let me tell you, Emmett is the most amazing kisser. I felt it all the way down to my toes," she said dreamily.

"He can't be better than Jasper though," Alice said brightly.

"Mary Alice Brandon, did you kiss Jasper?" Rose screeched.

"Yes, I did and it was absolutely hot. If he's only half as good in bed as he is at kissing I will have the most powerful and mind-blowing orgasm of my life," Alice said grinning stupidly.

Both, Rose and I grimaced.

"Okay, Alice, spare us the details, please," Rose said disgusted.

"Oh no! You two will listen to how good Jasper is in bed once I have seen it for myself. We made a bargain remember?" Alice asked us.

"I warned you, Rose, but you just never listen to me," I grumbled, remembering how I tried to tell her that hearing those kinds of stories about your own brother would not only be heavily awkward, but also incredibly disgusting.

"Stop being such a know-it-all," she grumbled back.

For the rest of the evening Rose and I were in a bad mood, already dreading the talk that was about to come sometime in the next few months. We all decided to go to bed early that night because apparently I wasn't the only one with a date tomorrow.

A date. Was that what it was?

My thoughts were interrupted by my cell phone ringing.

_Bella,_

_What do you think about having lunch tomorrow again? I could take you out or I could cook myself, whatever you prefer. Please let me know your decision, so I can make reservations at the restaurant or clean up my apartment._

_I'm looking forward to our date tomorrow._

_Edward_

A date, _our date_. I guess my question from before was answered by his text.

_Edward,_

_I would love to have lunch with you tomorrow. I don't mind where we're going for lunch. I let you decide this one. Where shall I meet you?_

_Bella_

I didn't have to wait long for his reply.

_Okay, I'll surprise you then. I'll pick you up at your apartment at 11.30 a.m. if that is okay?_

I replied quickly that I was absolutely okay with that and then went to bed. What I didn't expect was another text message from him, but that's exactly what I got.

_Good, I'll see you tomorrow then, beautiful. Sweet dreams._

I couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	7. Breathtaking

**Breathtaking**

I was almost 99 per cent positive that I was dreaming because this was just too good to be real. Edward and I were having a picnic on a field overlooking a spectacular lake while the sun was slowly setting in the background. It was the most romantic view I had ever seen in my entire life. Edward fed me the most amazing Italian food and I was sure Giulia made it. Once we were done eating we put the things away and lay down on the grass. We didn't talk much because words would just have ruined the moment, so we just stared into each other's eyes intently for a while. At some point Edward reached out and started to pull my face closer to his. I wasn't fighting him because there was nothing I wanted more than kissing him. Our faces came closer by the second and then, right before I could feel his perfect lips on mine, the shrill ringtone of my cell phone woke me up. Why do dreams always have to end before the nice things happen?

Groggily I reached for my phone on the nightstand.

"Hello?" I asked grumpily.

"_Bella?"_ I heard a velvet smooth voice ask and my bad mood vanished instantly.

"Edward?" I asked dumbly.

"_Yeah. Hey, are you okay? Did I wake you?"_

I looked at the clock then and it said 9.30 a.m. Way too early to get up for my taste.

"Yeah," was all I said, still too tired to talk.

"_I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd still be in bed at this time of the day."_

"It's fine Edward, it's time to get up anyway. So, was there any particular reason for calling me?" I asked, slowly waking up completely.

"_No, I just wanted to see whether you are still up for the date or if you're cancelling,"_ he said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Or you were just guessing I'm a grouch in the morning and so you decided to annoy me a bit," I said teasingly.

"_Touché!"_ He laughed.

"Edward!" I exclaimed. He was just teasing, right? There was no way he could actually know that.

"_Sorry, Jasper told me yesterday and I just wanted to see if it was true,"_ he said, apparently highly amused.

"Wait a second! My cousin told you I'm a grump in the morning? Why?" I asked, absolutely confused.

"_I think he was trying to scare me off. Apparently he's not too happy about Emmett and me taking you girls out. I never expected Jasper to be such a mother hen."_

"Okay, this is so crossing the line. Everything connected with my sleep is top secret. I'm going to kill him next time I see him," I said, slightly scared Jasper told him about my sleep talking either.

"_Hey, you're not mad at me though, are you?"_

"No, but Jasper's going to pay for that."

"_Don't be too hard on him. He's still one of my best friends and I might be slightly pissed if you killed him,"_ he snickered.

"Ha ha, very funny. When are you going to pick me up again?" I asked just to distract him.

"_I'll be on your doorstep at 11.30 sharp."_

"Okay, so is there a dress code?" I asked smiling.

"_No. There's no need to dress up. Just dress like you would on any other normal day."_

"Are you going to tell me where we are going now?"

"_Nope, it's a surprise. You had the chance to decide yesterday, but you didn't want to, so now you just have to wait and see."_

"That's not fair!" I complained, I absolutely hated surprises.

"_Well, missy, I don't know if anyone ever told you, but life isn't fair."_ He laughed on the other end of the phone.

I just groaned which made him laugh harder.

"_Oh, hey, I got a call from Emmett. Hold on a second, I'll just get rid of him,"_ he said and then I heard him push some buttons to take Emmett's call. Apparently it weren't the right ones, though, because the next second I could hear Emmett's voice and knew Edward had accidently set up a three way call.

"_What is it Emmett?"_ I heard Edward ask rudely.

"_It's good to hear your voice, too, Eddie,"_ Emmett answered sarcastically and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

"_Will you just spit out what you want Emmett? I have a very important call on the other line."_

"_Dude, I just wanted to ask for your help. I have no idea what to get Rose. Flowers? Jewelry?"_

"_Uhm, get her flowers. All girls love flowers." _Edward sounded slightly unsure of what he just said.

"_Dude, we're absolutely pathetic. I mean, of course we never actually had problems getting the girls we wanted, but this is so different. I have no idea how to start a serious relationship."_

"_Tell me about it,"_ Edward agreed.

"_I really don't wanna mess this up, you know? Rose is the best that could have ever happened to me."_

"_Yeah, same here. Bella's so perfect."_

I was absolutely speechless when I heard that. I couldn't even think straight that second.

"_Okay, thanks man for your help. Wish me luck everything goes okay with Rose later."_

"_Yeah, I just hope the same thing for Bella and my date. I really want to get to know her better,"_ Edward said.

So that was it. He wanted to get to know me better. For now I was just a mystery for him and the only thing he wanted was to solve it. Once again I felt the self-consciousness kick in. So what would happen when he solved the mystery I was to him? What would happen once I told him everything about myself, let him get to know me? He would dump me that much was clear. Despite everything Rose and Alice told me last night somewhere deep down I knew Edward was too good for me. He was too gorgeous, too smart and too perfect. I wasn't worth his love. I felt the tears in my eyes, but suppressed them when I heard Emmett and Edward say a quick goodbye. I had to compose myself since Edward would talk to me again in a few short seconds.

"_Bella? Are you still there?"_ He asked.

"Yeah! What did Emmett want?" As if I didn't already know that.

"_He needed help with his date with Rose,"_ he said nonchalantly. At least he was telling me the truth.

"Oh, okay," was all I said.

"_Hey, are you okay? You sound like something's bothering you,"_ he asked concerned.

"No, no, I'm fine." Was I really that easy to read?

"_Okay," _he said unconvinced,_ "I think I'll let you go now. You still have to get ready, don't you?"_His radiant mood from before was gone and I knew that it was my entire fault. I have to learn how to act better.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to the bathroom actually. Hey, and that whole 'dress casual' thing better not be a bluff if you know what's good for you," I said laughing, trying to lighten the mood. It worked to an extent.

"_No worries. We won't go anywhere fancy cause I have a feeling that you don't like those kinds of restaurants,"_ he said. I was definitely too easy to read.

"You got that right. So, I'll see you in a bit?"

"_Yeah, see you in exactly one hour and 27 minutes. Can't wait, beautiful!"_

Once we hung up and I was done showering I went to my closet to search for an outfit that was casual, but still looked kind of nice. I chose to wear slightly baggy jeans and a formfitting long-sleeved white shirt. To complete the outfit I put on a narrow brown belt and a brown scarf. When I saw that the sun was shining outside I also took my aviator sunglasses. I only owned two pairs of sunglasses, my aviators and my wayfarers, both of which Alice hated. She said they were too boyish and once even dared to throw them away. I could only stop her by telling her that her big idol, Audrey Hepburn, wore wayfarers either and while she was distracted by that piece of information I snatched both pairs of sunglasses out of her hands and hid them from her. **(A/N: The links for the outfits are on my profile!)**

I spent the remaining 30 minutes I had until Edward was supposed to pick me up to think about what he said to Emmett once more. If I could just make this harder for him, make it more difficult for him to see the true me then I might be able to have some more time with him before he leaves me for another girl. Then again, if I didn't give him the chance to get to know me he would leave even sooner thinking I don't want to be with him. This was all more complicated than I had ever imagined.

By the time Edward arrived I had decided to just be me. I was a bad actress, so the whole being someone else to keep him with me longer wouldn't work out. I just had to wait and see how the thing between us worked out. Maybe I wasn't more than a friend for him, maybe I could be more for a certain amount of time. The only thing I was absolutely sure about was the fact that no matter how much I cared for him, he could never feel the same way about me.

When I opened the front door for him I was once again struck by his beauty. He wore a formfitting long-sleeved gray shirt, a black hoodie, dark blue jeans and black wayfarers. He was the incarnation of pure beauty even in this simple outfit.

"Hey," he said, smiling his crooked smile.

"Hey," I breathed.

"You look beautiful Bella," he said.

"Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." I smiled at him.

"So, are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Sure, let me just get my purse."

After we left my apartment he once again took my hand in his and led me out onto the street. We walked straight towards a silver Volvo and once we got there he held the passenger door for me.

"Wow! This is your car?" I asked him as soon as we were both seated.

"Yep. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing. Good thing we took your car. I guess you would have gotten a heart attack if I had shown you my car." I laughed, imagining Edward's reaction to my ancient truck.

"Why? What kind of car do you drive?" He asked curiously.

"I'm the proud owner of a 1953 Chevrolet pickup truck," I laughed.

He just stared at me disbelieving.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said and looked back onto the street. We spent the rest of the drive in comfortable silence.

When we arrived at the apartment building he was living in I was stunned. I had heard about this place before and knew it was one of Seattle's most expensive and exclusive places, the Four Seasons Private Residences.

"You live here?" I asked breathlessly when Edward helped me out of the car.

"Yeah," he said and shrugged.

"Wow! And I thought I lived in an expensive apartment building," I said, still stunned when we walked through the lobby.

We took the elevator up to his apartment and once we entered I was absolutely speechless. There were floor to ceiling windows all around the apartment through which you had a spectacular view out onto Elliot bay with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

"Hey, Bella? Are you okay?" Edward asked.

I didn't realize I had stopped walking as soon as I had seen the windows until I heard Edward's voice.

"Yeah," I breathed and walked slowly towards the large windows, "The view is so beautiful."

"Yeah, I know. That's actually the main reason I bought this apartment," Edward said while walking over to stand right next to me.

I don't know how long we stood there in silence, looking out of the window and admiring the view, but at some point I noticed the really delicious smell of food in the air.

"Something smells good," I said, smiling at him.

"Wait until you've tasted it before you compliment it. It's something Giulia taught me to make when I first started living on my own. It's a simple, yet delicious recipe, original Italian lasagna. Are you hungry?" He answered, smiling the crooked smile that took my breath away.

"Absolutely! I'm starving," I answered enthusiastically which made him laugh.

He led me towards the kitchen and went over to the oven to get the lasagna. After he took it out he placed it on the counter and took a fork out of one of the drawers.

"Want to taste it?" He asked.

"Sure," I said and he fed me a bit of the lasagna. It was absolutely delicious.

"So, how is it?" He asked nervously.

I groaned and answered: "This is the most delicious food I ever had."

He smiled at me, took my hand and led me into the dining room where the table was already set. He held out a chair for me and, once I was seated, went into the kitchen to get the lasagna and a bottle of red wine. He poured each of us a glass and then we started eating the lasagna.

"So, I never really asked before, but what exactly is it that you do Edward?" I asked him curiously.

"I work for Cullen Enterprises," He answered.

"No shit Sherlock," I answered sarcastically, "I already knew that. But what _exactly_ is your job at Cullen Enterprises?"

"I'm the Chief Operations Officer. That position includes a lot of tasks, but at the moment I'm mostly in charge of the international relations and projects abroad," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Really? Do you have to travel a lot then?" I asked intrigued.

"Sort of. It's been worse though. Ever since the company became one of the most influential and powerful ones in the country, the number of trips I have to do became less and less cause now the others are coming to talk to _us_ and not the other way round. I still have to do some trips, of course, from time to time, but only to the usual places, overseeing projects or talking to new partners," he answered.

"What are the usual places?"

"Hong Kong, Rome, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Cape town, Sydney, Moscow, Paris and many more," he said as I was staring at him wide eyed.

"I thought you said you didn't have to travel a lot anymore?" I asked shocked.

"I don't. Those trips only last for about three to four days and then I come back to Seattle. In the past I had to stay for weeks and maybe travel to other cities in the country to do business deals," he said, smiling at my obvious amazement.

"Wow! You're so lucky to have visited all those cities," I said in awe.

"To be honest, I never really saw any other part of those cities apart from conference rooms and my hotel room, of course."

"You never got time for sightseeing?"

"Nope, I usually have to work from six in the morning to eight at night on those business trips. It's absolutely exhausting and I'm always happy to be back in the hotel and get some sleep. Believe me, sightseeing is the last thing on my mind on those trips."

"That's kind of sad. Many people don't ever get the chance to go there and see some of those cities and although you're there you never have time to visit famous places," I said.

"Have you ever been to one of those cities, Bella?" He asked curiously.

"No. I've never actually left the continental U.S.. It was always a dream of mine to go to other continents, Europe especially. I would give anything for the opportunity to visit Berlin, Munich, Rome and Paris," I said.

"Hmmm," he said, furrowing his brow, apparently thinking about something.

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing," he said again like in the car before.

We continued eating in silence then, he still deep in though and me watching him. Once we were done we went into the living room and I spotted a grand piano standing in the corner of the room. Edward saw me staring at it and started smirking.

"So, I guess it's time for you to show me your piano skills," he snickered. I had completely forgotten about that.

"But only if I get a little performance in return," I said.

"Sure. Go ahead," he said, gesturing towards the piano.

We both sat down on the bench in front of the piano and I placed my fingers on the keys.

"Brace yourself! This is not going to be pretty," I said, but he just rolled his eyes at me.

"Just do it, Bella."

I started playing and he visibly winced when I hit the wrong note which basically happened every other second. By the time I was finished I looked up at him and saw him sitting next to me with a tense face.

"That was…uhm…really inspiring Bella," he stammered, obviously trying not to hurt my feelings. I started laughing at him which made him look at me confused.

"Seriously Edward, I know this was absolutely horrible. And don't deny it! I saw you wince the whole time," I said in between laughs. Edward joined my laughter then and we continued to just laugh for a few more minutes.

"So, Mr. Masen, I think it's time for your performance," I said.

He smiled at me and started playing. I'm sure I looked like a deer in the headlights with my eyes growing huge and my jaw dropping. He was playing Beethoven's 'Für Elise' and it was absolutely phenomenal. I had never heard anything like it before. It was as if his fingers were flying over the keys. When I looked up at him again I saw that he was watching me _while_ he was playing. He had a faint smile on his lips and leaned down to whisper in my ear:

"How am I?"

My breathing hitched at his closeness and I replied in a very breathy and stunned voice.

"Phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal!"

He smiled broadly at that and turned to look out of the window, all the while still playing the piano. I followed his gaze and was totally surprised to see the sun was already setting, bathing the water and the mountains in a soft red light.

I was absolutely mesmerized by the view and didn't realize at first that he had stopped playing. Once I did though, I looked up at him, seeing his sparkling green eyes looking down at me with an expression I couldn't identify.

"Bella?" He asked softly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair that had fallen into my face behind my ear.

"Yes?" I whispered, somehow knowing that whatever he was about to say would influence our further relationship with each other.

"I have to be honest with you Bella. I don't know what this thing between us is for you, but for me it is more than mere friendship. When you came into my life, Bella, it was as if the sun was finally rising over my horizon, bringing light and warmth with it. Before you my world was a dark, frozen place. I was Edward Masen, the unemotional, ice cold business man hardly anybody really liked, but admired. But then there was you Bella. It was as if the ice that covered my personality was melted away by your warmth and left nothing behind but the true me. I was never a person to easily trust others, Bella, but I trusted you from the first time I laid eyes on you in the coffee shop. It feels like years have passed since then, although it was only a few days ago. I want you to know that I couldn't stop thinking about you for a single second. Every time I closed my eyes I saw your face, smiling at me. I could hardly sleep, I was constantly distracted at work and my whole lunch break consisted of walking to the coffee shop, hoping you would be there.

I don't know if this is the usual way to go about it because it has never been like that for me before and I know it is probably way too early for me to tell you this, but I want to be with you, Bella.

I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend. The only thing I want to know is if you feel the same way about me and if you are willing to work on this, so maybe one day this thing we have could turn into something more."

He looked into my eyes the whole time he was speaking and all I could see in his beautiful, sparkling green orbs was sincerity. At this exact moment I knew that all my fears about him only seeing me as a challenge were wrong. He did have feelings for me and we both knew it was too early for a relationship. He wanted us to further get to know each other, so maybe we could have a romantic relationship in the future. I felt the happiness inside of me rise up.

"Yes," I whispered and he smiled his heart stopping smile. We stared at each other happily for a few more seconds before the atmosphere around us suddenly changed. The happiness faded and was replaced by an electric current running through my veins.

We continued looking into each others' eyes, but the smiles on our faces faded and were replaced by serious expressions. I didn't consciously notice that we were leaning in until I suddenly realized that his face was only inches from mine. I closed my eyes and a second later I felt his soft, warm lips kissing mine gently as if I was made of glass and too much pressure would make me break. I felt like there were fireworks exploding in the pit of my stomach. He took my bottom lip between his lips and gently sucked on it and I couldn't help, but groan quietly at the feeling. Our kiss grew more and more heated, but his lips were still gentle. At some point I felt his tongue trace my lower lip and I opened my mouth in response. I put my arms around his neck to pull him closer and felt his hands doing the same thing on my waist.

Although I doubted neither of us wanted to, we had to break our kiss to catch our breath.

I looked down at my feet, feeling a blush rise into my cheeks, not sure about his reaction to the kiss. I felt his hand cup my chin, making me look at him. He was smiling. I smiled timidly back in return.

"Amazing," he breathed.

"Breathtaking," was my response and we both had to smile at the truth behind my statement.


	8. Misunderstanding

**Misunderstanding**

"No way!" I laughed loudly.

"Yes! I'm telling you, it's true!" Edward answered, laughing just as much as I did.

After our kiss on the piano bench we moved our conversation to the couch, though we didn't kiss again. It was really funny to listen to him telling me all the weird things he and the other boys, Emmett especially, did in college.

"I can't believe Emmett mooned his professor right in the middle of class," I said.

"Yeah, we didn't expect him to do it either, but apparently Emmett does anything to win a bet."

"Did he get in trouble?" I asked.

"Oh yes! He was actually lucky we had a really laid back teacher, so he wasn't kicked out. But his parents were furious. He got a phone call from them that night and I've never seen Emmett this intimidated before. Esme was really pissed. She actually flew across the country a few days later just to let us all feel her wrath in person. I have never seen her like that before."

Esme was apparently Emmett's mother whom I have never met before. Just like his dad, Esme was a really busy. While Carlisle was the boss of Cullen Enterprises, Esme was a celebrated architect with projects all around the world. They travelled a lot, but always took care of their son. Emmett once said that although they were incredibly busy they always took their time for him if he needed them.

"I have never met Emmett's mom, although I know him for a very long time now. What kind of person is she?" I asked curiously.

"She's a very loving and sweet person. Emmett means a lot to her and she always feels bad when she has to leave him. She once said that she was afraid that Emmett might be angry at her one day for leaving him alone so often, but he never cared. He knows his parents love him and that's enough for him."

"Yeah, that sounds a lot like Emmett. So, are there any other funny college stories?"

"I can't think of any right now. What about you and the girls?" He asked.

"That's difficult cause Rose, Alice and me all went to different colleges."

"Oh! I thought the girls went to Columbia, too," he said surprised.

"Nope. Alice went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and Rose to Stanford."

"Rose wasn't in New York with you?"

"No. I missed her a lot though over the last six years. We didn't get a lot of chances to actually see each other. Phone calls were our only way of communicating with each other for most of the time."

"What did they study?" He asked.

"Rose studied Engineering and Alice Fashion Design."

"Why do you girls work in a coffee shop if you all have degrees from some of the best colleges in the world?" Edward asked confused.

"Rose lost her old job some time ago and Alice and I just graduated and didn't start applying yet."

"Where would you like to work?"

"The Seattle Times would be great, but I'd also take jobs at other newspapers," I said.

"Did you do any internships before?" He asked.

"Yeah, at the New York Times."

"Wow! Impressive! I read the NY Times every day," He said.

"Yeah, I also won a contest and got to publish an article in the NY Times," I said proudly.

"Really? What was it about?"

"It was about the lack of international literature in the curriculum at high school."

"Hey! I read that one! It was really good and I totally agreed with you. Which works did you name as examples again? German ones, right?"

"Yeah. I think I mentioned 'Faust' by Goethe and 'Maria Stuart' by Schiller. Masterpieces if you ask me."

"I agree," he smiled at me.

I looked at the clock then and saw that it was already 10.30 p.m., so I told Edward I had to go home.

"I'll take you home," he said. I didn't have any time to protest because he was already in his jacket, waiting for me at the door.

On the drive home we talked a little about our plans for the next few days and I told him I had to work at the coffee shop the whole week.

"So, you remember what you promised me?" I asked him then.

"Hmm?" He just asked.

"Hey! You promised to visit me at the coffee shop," I said in a mock shocked voice.

"Oh, right, dammit. It seems like I can't keep my promise for most of this week. I'll still be here tomorrow, but on Tuesday I'm going to go to Hong Kong. I'm sorry, Bella," he said, sounding truly sorry.

"That's okay. I have an idea how you can make it up to me," I said cheerfully.

"How?" He asked eagerly.

"Can you send me a postcard from Hong Kong? I know this is really old-fashioned, but I always loved receiving postcards," I said and he laughed.

"I'll send you one hundred postcards if you want me to," he said earnestly once he stopped laughing.

"Erm, thanks, but no thanks. One is quite enough."

"Okay." He shrugged.

"Here we are…" He said after a few minutes when he parked in front of our apartment building. Before I could even try to say goodbye to him he was already out of the car getting my car door for me. He held his hand out for me, helped me out of the car and walked me up to my apartment door.

"Thank you Edward. I had a really great time," I said shyly when we were standing in front of my door.

"Me too," He whispered, reaching out to touch my face.

I looked up into his beautiful, sparkling green eyes and got lost in them. I totally forgot about the time, so I didn't know how long we were already standing there when he started to lean in. The kiss was just as amazing as the first one. It felt like my whole body was on fire, like every single cell in my body burned.

At some point we had to break away from each other to catch our breath. Once we did we both didn't know what to say.

"So," I started, "do you want to come inside for a bit?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah, sure," he answered, smiling brilliantly.

When I turned around to open the door I was surprised to find a note lying on the ground which said 'To Bella'. I picked it up and took a closer look. The handwriting looked like Alice's, but I wasn't 100 per cent sure. But why would Alice write me a letter and put it in front of the door? I mean, we were living together!

"From a secret admirer?" Edward snickered.

I didn't answer. I just opened the letter and read it. I was right. It was from Alice.

_Bella,_

_You might wonder why I'm writing a letter to you and probably think I'm crazy for placing it in front of the door, but believe me it's in your best interest._

_I just want to warn you that Rose and Emmett are in there and they're doing certain things which include a lot of moaning ;-) Long story short, they're having sex. And not in Rose's bedroom!_

_I made the mistake of going inside and I think the picture will be forever burnt in my memory, but in a bad way. Also, I had to hold Jazz back or he would have killed Emmett right then and there for what he was doing with his sister._

_I'm going to stay at Jasper's tonight, so don't worry about me. Maybe you could ask your uncle and aunt if you can spend the night at their place. Just don't tell them the reason why you need to crash at their house! If Richard's in any way like Jasper Emmett's not going to live to see the next day._

_I love you sis!_

_Alice_

"What? Bella? What's going on? You're looking kind of green," Edward said concerned.

He was right. I was sick. Sick of only imagining where Emmett and Rose were going at it right this second. I would have to disinfect every surface they could have had sex on as soon as it was possible to go inside again.

"I can't stay here," was all I said.

"Why? This is your home," Edward asked confused. I gave him the letter as an explanation.

"Oh," was his brilliant answer.

"Can I have your phone? I have to call Lillian and Richard," I asked.

"I have a better idea," he said cheerfully.

"And what's that?" I asked suspiciously.

"You're going to stay at my place until you can return home." He smiled.

"Erm…" I stuttered.

"Bella, if Alice can stay with Jasper, you can stay with me," he reasoned.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go! I really don't want to stay here any longer knowing what's going on behind these doors," I said and Edward laughed.

Once we were back at his apartment I noticed how incredibly tired I was and went straight for the couch.

"Ah, your couch is cozy. Can I borrow something to sleep in?" I asked.

"Bella, you're not sleeping on the couch," Edward said seriously.

"Huh? You want me to sleep on the floor?" I asked dumbly.

"No, you little idiot! I'm sleeping on the couch and you're sleeping in my bed. I'm going to change the sheets while you're in the bathroom."

"No! No way! You live here, so you sleep in the bed. I'm not going to make you sleep on the couch. I'm just a guest."

"Bella, be reasonable!"

"I _am_ reasonable! I'm sleeping on the couch," I said decidedly.

"No," was all he said, looking me straight in the eye.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

We continued like that for a while until I had enough. He apparently wasn't going to give in.

"Okay, hold on a second! We're both adults, so why don't we just _share_ either the bed or the couch?" I asked. He looked at me perplexed. "Only if that's okay for you, of course," I added.

"Yeah, sure it's okay! Erm…I'll just go and get you some clothes to sleep in. Any preferences?" He asked in a surprisingly anxious voice that I didn't understand. If he didn't want us to share a bed then why did he agree? Before I could answer his question or ask mine he was out of the room, apparently trying to make a fast escape. I waited for a few minutes for him to return with the clothes and when he did he immediately started babbling about random stuff. I guess he was trying to avoid something.

"You know, this is my favorite shirt, but I'm not sure the color will suit you. Maybe I should go get you something else? But what? It's difficult to decide something like that, but-"

"Edward," I interrupted him in a serious voice and he fell silent instantly.

"What's up with you? You're acting really weird. If you don't want us to share a bed, that's fine. You just have to tell me," I said.

"It's not that," he mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"Then what is it?" I asked.

"It's just that…This is really…I'm not used to…" He stammered. I walked over to him, put my hands on either side of his face and made him look at me.

"Edward, whatever it is there is no reason to be worried. I can take whatever you have to say. Just stop being like this and tell me what's going on," I said, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Bella, I have never experienced something like this. I never had anything remotely close to a serious relationship before and the only times girls stayed over at my place was when we had sex and they were gone before I woke up in the morning. I'm just nervous cause this is so new to me. Having a girl sleep at my place - in my bed! - and not have sex with her," he explained, looking right back at me.

"There's no need to be nervous. There's always a first time for everything and I promise I'm going to be a good roomie. Besides, I guess Emmett and Jasper stayed over at your place before, so just imagine I'm Emmett," I said.

His expression turned from anxious to downright disgusted which confused me quite a bit.

"What? What's going on? Why are you looking like that?" I asked him, still unable to decipher the reason for his disgust.

"Bella, if there's one thing in this world I really never want to experience it's sharing a bed with Emmett. I mean, of course, I love him like a brother, but only imagining lying next to Emmett, probably being kicked and hit by him while he's sleeping and having to listen to him snoring, is just plain weird and disturbing. Besides, guys don't share beds. It's just an unwritten law. It's different with girls though. It's actually quite romantic to imagine snuggling up to a girl and hold her," he explained and I started laughing imagining him snuggling up to Emmett.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Oh, I was imagining how romantic it would be for you to snuggle with Emmett," I said between laughs.

"This is so not funny, Isabella Marie Swan," he said, but I could see him suppress a smile and after a while he joined my laughter. It was really hard to stop once we had started, but eventually we did and he handed me the clothes and a spare toothbrush he found in the bathroom.

When I got out of the bathroom I went straight for the bedroom where Edward was already waiting for me, lying in bed. He was reading a book and didn't notice me at once and it was funny to watch him reading as his facial expressions changed according to what he was reading. I watched his face go from entertained to confused and then back to entertained and had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I think I watched him for about ten minutes when his face suddenly became extremely disgusted, he closed the book, tossed it onto his bedside table and crossed his arms. This time I couldn't help myself and had to start laughing. He looked up at me surprised at first and then smiled.

"What?" He asked, a smile in his voice.

"You should have seen your face," I managed to say between laughs. He looked confused.

"What are you reading?" I asked him.

"It's a book Jasper gave me and it wasn't bad until a few seconds ago when the main character suddenly started falling in love with his sister. That's just plain disgusting," he explained. I walked to the table and picked the book up.

"Oh! I know this book. It's really good," I said and he looked at me disgusted.

"Come on! You don't even know then end. I promise once you have finished you'll see that it wasn't that bad at all," I explained.

"I highly doubt that," he answered.

"Okay, fine! They're not actually related. They were both adopted as babies which makes their love not at all illegal," I told him.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Hmm, okay, I might continue reading then," he said.

"You'd better! This book is amazing."

Edward smiled at me then and patted the space next to him on the bed, indicating me to lie down next to him. Once I was lying on the bed on my side facing him, he placed his hand protectively around my waist which made me smile.

"You know, if somebody saw us right now they'd probably think we're a couple," I chuckled and he pulled his hand away at once.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"That's not what I meant. I have no problem with having your arm around my waist. Jasper actually used to do this when we were little. Every time I had a nightmare I went over to his room for comfort," I said, smiling broadly while remembering those tender brother-sister moments.

"I really envy you," Edward said while wrapping his arms around my waist again. I looked up at him really confused.

"You are envying me?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, for having the kind of siblings I always wanted to have. This may sound weird, but unlike most boys I didn't wish for a brother, but for a sister, a younger sister."

"Really? Why?" I asked.

"I don't really know. I just liked imagining me walking to the playground, hand in hand with my baby sister, watching her play, taking care of her when she hurt herself and protecting her from any boy who would tease her," he explained and I thought I saw a tiny blush on his face showing his embarrassment.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. I actually think that's really cute. You would have been a very protective brother I imagine and I bet your sister would have loved that." I smiled at him and he sighed.

"Yes, I guess I would have been a protective brother, maybe even a bit overprotective. But it doesn't matter now anyway cause my parents are already too old to have more children," he said sadly.

"How old are your parents?" I asked him.

"They are both 57," he answered.

"Okay, I guess you're right about them being too old. But, hey, you can't have a little sister, but you can always have a little daughter. Everything you have to do is finding the right girl," I told him cheerfully.

He looked deeply into my eyes then and I got lost in those mesmerizing green orbs. He muttered something under his breath, but it sounded a lot like 'I think I've already found her'. Although I wasn't even sure that was what he had said, I blushed furiously.

"You're really cute when you're doing this," he said and reached for my face.

"Doing what?" I asked confused.

"Blush like that. I've never met anyone with a blush as beautiful as yours," he answered.

"Thanks I guess. Although it can be really annoying at times," I said, but he only laughed.

"So, when do you want to get up tomorrow?" He asked.

"That depends on whether I can actually go into my apartment without being scarred for life."

"You can shower over here if you want to," he offered.

"Thanks, but I need new clothes either, so I guess there's no way around going home tomorrow morning," I sighed.

"When do you have to be at work?"

"I think I have to be there by 10 a.m., but I'm not 100 per cent sure. So, I guess I have to be home by 8 a.m. at the latest."

"Okay, breakfast at 7? I have to be at work at 8," he suggested.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." I said, stifling a yawn.

"Someone's pretty tired," he laughed.

"Yeah," I yawned. Edward turned around and switched off the light then.

"Goodnight Edward," I said, already drifting off to sleep.

"Goodnight my Bella. Happy dreams," he said quietly and gave me a little goodnight kiss before lying down himself.

When I woke up the next day Edward wasn't there. I got up, still wearing Edward's shirt and boxers, and headed out of the bedroom to find him. As I passed the kitchen door a delicious smell hit my nose and I walked through the door, finding Edward behind the stove making pancakes.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Edward greeted me cheerfully.

"Good morning. How long are you already up?" I asked.

"I got up an hour ago, I think. So, do you like blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked while smiling at me. My eyes widened.

"Oh my god, I love them Edward!" I exclaimed happily while clapping my hands, a habit I picked up from Alice. Edward merely laughed in response. When he was done he led me to the dining room and held the chair out for me. Once again I noticed how gentlemanly he was and I wondered how I could get so lucky.

About halfway into our meal the doorbell rang. Edward and I looked at each other confused.

"I wonder who that'll be," he muttered, getting up to get the door.

I heard raised voices in the hallway, but didn't recognize the other person's voice until he entered the dining room. Standing there in the doorway, being absolutely livid, was none other than Jasper.

"I can't believe it! I'm going to kill him! She's my sister after all and they only know each other for a few days," Jasper roared.

"Well, technically they know each other since high school, Jazz," Edward answered calmly.

"So you side with him?" Jasper shouted incredulously.

"Yeah, we both know Emmett quite well and I for my part think that he's not fooling around with Rosalie," Edward replied.

"You are just like him! What is it with you two? Why my sisters? I swear to god if Bella were here now I would kill you," Jasper said angrily.

Jasper's back was facing me, so he hadn't noticed me before and I was quietly listening to his rant about Emmett, but as soon as he said my name I choked on my orange juice. Jasper whirled around when he heard me cough and as soon as I regained control I waved at him, grinning sheepishly. His face betrayed how shocked he was. His mouth was slightly agape and his beautiful ice-blue eyes burned with fury. I couldn't understand him, but then I noticed that I was still wearing Edward's clothes. To someone on the outside that may look as if Edward and I had…

"You bastard," Jasper roared and launched himself at Edward. I watched in shock as my brother started beating up my maybe soon to be boyfriend. I jumped out of my chair and tried to pull Jasper off Edward. Thinking about it now I don't think Jasper intentionally did it, but as soon as I grabbed his arm, he punched me in the face with the elbow of his other arm. I stumbled backwards and landed on the floor screaming in agony. I could smell and taste the blood running out of my mouth and nose.

"Bella," Edward shouted and punched Jasper in the stomach who hadn't even realized what he had done.

"Oh god, let me look at your face, Bella," Edward said frantically. I refused to remove my hands from my face, so Edward had to force them away.

"Jesus, we have to call an ambulance or at least take you to the hospital," Edward said and then turned around to roar at Jasper.

"Are you happy now? You punched your own sister in the face. Dammit Jasper! She just slept here cause Rose and Emmett were occupying her apartment, as you surely remember, and she's only wearing my clothes because there was no way to get her own out of the apartment you asshole."

Jasper just looked at Edward dumbstruck, apparently not sure whether or not to believe him. As soon as he looked at me and the tears that were streaming out of my eyes, though, he opened his mouth.

"Bella, I-"

"Shut up Jasper," I said quietly, still angry at him for punching both, Edward and me.

"But I-"

"Didn't you hear what she said?" Edward asked absolutely livid. He looked really frightening. Jasper's mouth remained shut after that.

"Come on, love, let's get you out of here and to the hospital," Edward said helping me up from the floor. I was already dizzy from the smell of the blood, so it was a good thing Edward supported me with his arm around my waist.

"When I get back, you better be gone," he threatened Jasper before we left.

We walked down into the parking garage and got into his precious Volvo.

"Oh god, I'm ruining your seats," I said as we started driving.

"Forget about the seats! The important thing now is to get you to a doctor," he said worriedly, glancing over at me. He pulled out his phone and called the hospital. Apparently he knew some doctor there and made sure we got an appointment straight away.

Once we were parked in front of the hospital Edward helped me out of the car. As if I didn't already have had enough bad luck it also started raining really hard that moment. When we reached the entrance of the hospital we were already soaking wet.

"I'm so sorry Bella. This is all my fault. I should have held Jasper back. Please don't be mad at me," Edward apologized.

"It's not your fault, Edward, and I'm not mad at you. Jasper however is going to face my wrath and believe me, it's not going to be pretty," I said angrily and Edward laughed.

"Before you think of taking revenge we should make sure somebody treated your wounds, Bella," he answered, still highly amused and I couldn't help myself and smiled at him.

"I think that's my cue to step in," a voice said from behind us and we both turned around to look at the person standing in the doorway to one of the examination rooms.


	9. Like two pieces of a puzzle

**Like two pieces of a puzzle**

"Carlisle!" Edward exclaimed walking towards the doctor.

"Edward, what happened?" The doctor named Carlisle asked while he was shaking Edward's hand.

"A little misunderstanding between me and Jasper. Unfortunately Bella got hit when she tried to pull him off of me," Edward explained.

"Bella? Bella Swan?" The doctor asked surprised. I was surprised as well. How did he know me? I knew I was accident prone and in probably no time at all I would know the names of the complete hospital staff due to my frequent visits in the ER, but how on earth did this doctor know me? This is the first time I am in this hospital. Or at least the first time in the past six years.

"Yes sir," I answered politely.

"Ah, it is good to finally meet you. My son has been talking about you so much," he answered smiling while leading me inside the examination room.

"Your son?" I asked confused.

"Yes. Emmett likes you a lot."

"You are Emmett's dad? But aren't you supposed to be the boss of Cullen Enterprises? That's what Emmett said. He never mentioned you're a doctor," I said utterly confused now.

"Yes," Dr Cullen said while tending to my face, "I am the boss of Cullen Enterprises. I inherited the company from my father when he died. I was never supposed to own Cullen Enterprises when I was younger, so I went to college to become a doctor. Unfortunately my brother Thomas who was supposed to get the company died a few years ago and so I inherited it. I couldn't work as a doctor for years, but since Emmett, Jasper and Edward started working for Cullen Enterprises I can work here part-time and I'm grateful for that," he continued while smiling at Edward who returned it with a smile of his own.

Telling me his story was the perfect distraction. I never really liked being examined, but by telling me his story I hardly noticed Dr Cullen stopping the bleedings in my nose and mouth.

"So, Ms Swan-" Dr Cullen started, but I interrupted him.

"Bella," I said and he smiled.

"So, Bella, luckily you only had minor bleedings and your nose isn't fractured," Dr Cullen told me.

"Thank you, Dr Cullen," I said.

"Oh, go ahead and call me Carlisle," he said.

"Thank you, Carlisle," I smiled at him.

"Okay, now let me examine your face Edward," Carlisle said while turning towards Edward.

Luckily neither I nor Edward were seriously injured. As soon as he was done examining us Carlisle wanted to know what exactly happened and so Edward told him the story of Jasper coming to his apartment and then losing his temper when he saw me there. Carlisle smiled a bit, although the smile was soon replaced by a serious expression.

"I can't imagine Jasper to be like this. He's always so calm and quiet," he said.

"Not when it's about his sisters," Edward said.

"His sister_s_?" Carlisle asked and then looked at me confused.

"I thought he only had one sister," he added. I told him our family history then, of course not elaborating when it came to my parents' death, but he was still worried.

"I hope this won't happen more often from now on," he stated.

"It won't," I replied in a hard voice which made both men look at me.

"It's time someone told Jasper to butt out," I continued in the same voice.

"Bella, may I ask what you are doing for a living?" Carlisle asked suddenly.

"Currently I work in a coffee shop, but soon I want to start working as a journalist, why?" I told him, confused by his sudden change of topic. He exchanged a meaningful glance with Edward and then said: "Oh nothing, I was just curious."

I was still looking at them confused when Carlisle's beeper suddenly went off.

"Oh sorry, there's a patient I need to check on. If you have any trouble with your wounds don't hesitate to call me. Edward, you better stay home for the rest of the day and get ready for your trip tomorrow," Carlisle said pausing in the doorway.

Edward then led me outside towards his car and asked me where I wanted to go now, but before I could answer my phone was ringing. There was an unknown number displayed on the screen which only added to my already present confusion.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Bella? Where are you? Rose and I are waiting at the coffee shop. Did you forget you had to work today? Is Edward distracting you this much?" _Alice asked and I could hear her and Rose laugh on the other end.

"Sorry to disappoint you Alice, but I just got out of hospital and that's why I couldn't show up at work," I told her.

"_Hospital? Oh god Bella, are you okay? What happened?"_ Alice asked worriedly and I noticed that Rose's laughter in the background stopped instantly when she heard the word hospital.

"I'm fine Alice, don't worry about me. You should rather worry about Jasper," I said angrily.

"_Jazz? What's up with him? Is he hurt, too?"_ Alice asked and the panic was clear in her voice.

"No, Jasper is fine, but believe me as soon as I'm-"

"We," Edward interrupted me.

"Right, as soon as _we_ are done with him he won't be."

"_I'm confused. What happened? Was that Edward in the background?"_

"Yes, that was Edward and to answer your other question, Jasper came to Edward's place this morning and punched us both in the face. If you see him before I find him tell him he's lucky he didn't break my nose otherwise he would be dead sooner than he'd think possible."

"_Jasper punched the two of you in the face?"_ Alice screeched.

"Yes," was all I said.

"_What a moron!"_ Alice screamed so loud that Edward's head whirled to look at me.

"Yeah, you got that right," I answered.

"_Don't do anything until we're there! How dare he punch my best friend and sister? Jasper's dead,"_ I heard Rose saying in the background and then the line went dead.

"Huh. Seems like we have some allies. Rose is furious," I said.

"Well, I would be as well if somebody punched my sister," Edward answered.

"Oh, there is the overprotective brother again. It really is a shame you don't have a sister. I would love to hear you arguing with her," I chuckled.

"Hey! Don't make fun of me," Edward said indignantly, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him crack a smile.

"So, do you want to go home or come to my place for a bit?" Edward asked.

"Would you mind taking me to Jasper's?" I asked and saw his hands clenching on the steering wheel.

"I'm not letting you alone with him," he growled through gritted teeth.

"Then come with me," I said, looking straight at him. His tense expression softened and he looked back at me as we were currently stopping at a red light.

"I'll follow you anywhere."

I felt warmth spreading throughout my body at this simple statement and smiled at him. He answered it with a warm one of his own and then started driving again when we heard the cars behind us honk as the traffic light apparently had turned green, but none of us had noticed. I giggled a bit at that and saw Edward watching me out of the corner of his eyes, smirking.

"What are you laughing about?" He asked.

"It's nothing," I said.

"Bella," he said in a warning tone.

"Okay, it's stupid, but I just thought it was very amusing that you didn't notice the traffic light turn green," I said, smiling at him.

"Well, I wasn't really paying attention. Someone distracted me a bit," he said, mirroring my amused expression.

"Oh, and who would that be?" I asked jokingly.

"It was the girl sitting next to me," Edward answered.

"Do I know her?"

"I think so. She's beautiful - pale skin, mahogany hair and chocolate brown eyes – witty, funny, intelligent, kind, caring, loving and selfless. She's perfect," he answered and I saw his eyes sparkling when they met mine. I looked down and blushed. Once again I was struck by his beautiful words. Not many people could make me feel so extraordinary, but Edward definitely could. Every second I spent with him I felt like I was actually special.

Once we arrived at Jasper's house I took a deep breath and turned to look at Edward who was watching me.

"I know you're mad at him and believe me, so am I, but he's still my big brother. Let's just talk to him reasonably and leave the whole punishing him business to Rose and Alice, okay?" I asked Edward, looking him deeply in the eye.

"If this is what you want then this is what we'll do," was all he said before he stepped out of the car and walked over to my side to get my door for me. He extended his hand to help me out of the car and I took it. He didn't release my hand after I got out of the car, but kept on holding it in his large, soft and strong one. The same kind of warmth I felt before at his statements seemed to be spreading throughout my body from the point where his skin touched my own.

We didn't even have to knock. Jasper apparently saw us coming and opened the door for us with a guilty, heartbreaking expression. All of my still present, but suppressed, anger went flying out of the window when I caught sight of his face. I was never one for holding grudges in general, but with my family it was twice as hard anyway. Without a word Jasper gestured us to follow him to the living room where we sat down, Edward and me on the loveseat and Jasper in the armchair. We looked at each other for a bit without saying anything until Jasper suddenly groaned, put his elbows on his thighs and buried his face in his hands.

"Look guys, I don't know what got into me. I can't even believe I beat my best friend and my sister. I mean, I hit a girl! There is nothing I can say to justify what I did, I can just tell you how utterly, incredibly sorry I am and hope that you'll be able to forgive me," Jasper whispered without looking at us. His voice was so pained that I felt a sharp pain in my own heart at my brother's obvious sorrow. I let go of Edward's hand and went over to Jasper to hug him. He was apparently stunned by my reaction as he froze first and then hugged me back fiercely.

"I'm so sorry, Bellsy. Please, please tell me you forgive me! You are my little sister, you mean the world to me and I couldn't stand it if I lost you just because I was a jerk," Jasper sobbed at my shoulder.

"Jazz, you're my brother and I love you, although you definitely were a jerk for thinking Edward and I had sex. You know me Jazz. I wouldn't do something like that so early. I'm not Rose," I tried to soothe him while I stroked his back. I caught Edward's eye, saw the loving way he looked at me and threw him a questioning gaze. He just shrugged and mouthed 'later'.

"I love you, too, Bella and I know you are different from Rose, but this morning I just totally lost my grip on who I really am and just saw red. In that moment I didn't see any difference between you and Rose anymore, I just wanted to hurt Edward for what he was supposedly doing with my baby sister," he told me.

"It's okay Jasper, we're not mad at you," I answered, smiling at him to show him I was serious. He smiled back after a while, but as soon as he looked at Edward his face was pained again.

"I'm sorry man," was all he said when he looked at Edward who was still watching us from the loveseat. He got up and walked towards us while Jasper removed his hands from around me and straightened up as well. For a second I thought they would fight again as their bodies got closer and closer, but when they started hugging each other and clapping onto each others' backs my worries immediately subsided. It was a short hug, but still I knew that they would be okay.

I don't know what got into me in that moment, but I just jumped up, ran over to them and pulled both of them into a hug while tears were streaming down my face. I took them both by surprise, but they hugged me back after a second trying to soothe me.

"Never, _never_ fight again! I can't stand it to see you two that way. Please, promise me you'll never do this again. I don't want to ruin your friendship," I wailed, looking up at the two most important men in my life. They exchanged a surprised glance, but then smiled down at me.

"You're not ruining our friendship, Bella," Edward said, stroking my hair while smiling at me warmly.

"Yeah, Edward's right. You are actually doing the complete opposite, Bellsy, you are strengthening it." He, too, smiled at me and then looked at Edward who nodded in appreciation.

"Thank you so much," I cried.

After a while of us just standing there the doorbell rang and Jasper left to open it which left me and Edward in the living room. I shifted positions, so I was now completely in Edward's arms.

"Are you okay, love?" He asked. He used the same endearment as when we left for the hospital. Did he really mean it? It was way too soon to talk about love in our relationship. I didn't even know whether we were already 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'.

"I'm fine. I just want to leave," I told him as we heard loud and angry voices getting closer.

"Yeah, I think it's better if we leave anyway cause apparently Rose and Alice are here to punish Jasper and I really don't want to be in the middle of that. Plus, we need to get you something different to wear," he stated and laughed a little. I looked down and saw that I was still in Edward's clothes.

"Don't you like me in your clothes?" I asked him jokingly.

"Believe me, you look unbelievable in my clothes and I would love to see you like this more often, but the blood does kind of ruin the picture," he said smiling his crooked smile.

"Oh god, I didn't even notice that I ruined your clothes. I'm sorry Edward," I said hurriedly. He just laughed in response and told me that it's okay.

We tried to sneak out, but Alice spotted us nearly immediately and asked us how we were. After reassuring first her and then Rose that we were fine, but kind of exhausted they allowed us to go. On my way out I whispered into Rose's ear to go easy on Jasper as she was still visibly fuming.

"Where do you want to go now?" Edward asked.

"If you don't mind I would like to go to my place first to get some fresh clothes and then back to yours. I don't think I can stay there knowing Alice and Rose are going to come home soon bombarding me with questions. I just want to relax in quiet surroundings for the rest of the day which is practically impossible with Alice around," I said and I saw how he was first disappointed about me going to my place, only to have that expression be replaced by one of pure joy because I was going to spend the rest of the day with him.

When we arrived at my apartment I told Edward to make himself comfortable on the couch while I was taking a shower and then change into some comfy clothes. As soon as I was done we left to avoid any chance of running into Alice and Rose.

Once we arrived at his apartment I immediately went to the comfy couch I was already laying on yesterday.

"I'll be with you in a second. I'll just go take a shower and change into some clean clothes," Edward said and handed me the remote control, so I could watch TV on his expensive looking flat screen. I watched TV for about half an hour when I suddenly felt like somebody was watching me. Sure enough when I looked up I found Edward leaning against the wall staring at me, so I patted the spot next to me on the couch indicating him to sit down there. He smiled at me and came over instantly.

"So, what are we watching?" He asked.

"I don't know. There really is nothing on that I really want to see. A lot of documentaries," I told him.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked and gestured towards his huge DVD collection on the wall.

"Sure," I answered.

"Your pick," he said and left to get some snacks.

I looked through the movies and soon found one of my favorites, A Walk to Remember.

"Edward, can we watch this one?" I asked showing him the DVD case when he returned.

"Sure, let's watch Landon and Jamie fall in love," he said and smiled, but I just stared at him dumbfounded.

"You actually saw this movie?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure, why else would I have it here?" He asked me, confused about my reaction.

"Wow, you are the first guy I've ever met who saw that movie," I told him, smiling broadly.

"It's a good movie, although I confess it took the girl who introduced the film to me a long time to convince me to watch it," he laughed.

"Who was the girl?" I asked, fearing that there was another woman in his life at the moment apart from me.

"Some girl I dated when I was still at college. Although I'm probably exaggerating when I say 'dated'. We went on one date and the only positive thing that came out of it was that I've actually found a romantic movie I liked. The girl was just plain boring. Once the movie was over she started talking and she didn't stop for about three hours. Somewhere during that period I fell asleep," he said and shrugged his shoulders. I was relieved and actually had to laugh at him.

"You fell asleep during a date?" I laughed uncontrollably.

"Yeah, well…" He said, scratching his neck, looking a bit ashamed, but also amused.

"I'll have to make sure to keep you entertained, so you don't fall asleep," I laughed.

"No worries, you have my undivided attention," he said giving me a warm, reassuring smile which I returned.

I don't know when exactly it happened, but somewhere about halfway into the movie I fell asleep. The next thing I remember was that I woke up to the end credits playing and found myself snuggled into Edward's side with his arms around me. I looked up at him, wanting to apologize, only to find him fast asleep. I smiled at his peaceful, innocent expression. He looked like an angel. I just sat there watching him sleep while my thoughts went wild. The way he was holding me was perfect, almost as if we were made for each other, two pieces of a puzzle fitting together perfectly. Right at this moment I could imagine spending the rest of my life with Edward. How we would love each other, get married, have children and grow old together. It was a beautiful picture, a picture I wanted to come true. But was I already in love with Edward? I didn't think so, but I knew I was on the best way to fall for him, hard.

At some point Edward began to stir and opened his eyes.

"Hey sleepyhead," I greeted him.

"Bella? Damn, did I fall asleep?"

"Yep," was all I said, seeing his increasingly panicked expression.

"Oh god Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it's just this day was so exhausting. Please don't think I-"

I stopped him by placing my hand over his mouth and smiled at him.

"Don't worry Edward, I fell asleep, too," I said.

He instantly relaxed and I released his mouth, placing my head back onto his chest and snuggling closer again while his arms tightened around me.

"So, how did you sleep?" I asked him.

"With you in my arms? Perfectly. What about you?"

"Same here. I could get used to falling asleep like this," I said as I pulled my head back to smile at him.

"You can always move in here," Edward said immediately.

"Tempting, but I don't think Rose and Alice would appreciate it if I moved out after such a short time," I answered and he pouted.

"We can always have sleepovers though," I added which made him smile brilliantly.

We stayed like this a little while longer until my stomach growled loudly which made Edward laugh.

"Seems like someone's pretty hungry. Come on, let's go get you something to eat," Edward laughed.

We went into the kitchen and went to work or rather I sat down on the kitchen chair while Edward cooked. He made me a really delicious Italian dish called 'bruschetta'. He made a special thick tomato sauce and put it onto little pieces of baguette and put them in the oven. When they were done he put them onto two plates and poured stripes of a black liquid called 'balsamico' over them. I have never tasted anything like it. He had to give me the recipe for that.

"This is so good Edward. Where did you learn to cook like that?" I asked.

"Can't you guess?" He smiled.

"Giulia?"

"Exactly. She's also the one to bring me all the ingredients I need for dishes like these from Italy when she's there visiting her family. She's like a second Mom for me," He smiled.

"I can tell. But tell me, you are going to Hong Kong tomorrow, right? How's the food their?" I asked him curiously.

"The food as well as the whole culture in Hong Kong is still very much influenced by the British culture, although it's part of China now. I have to say I'm not a big fan of Chinese food, so I'm quite glad that I never have any problems getting Shepherd's pie or anything like that when I'm in Hong Kong," he said.

"I'm not too much into it either. I can't understand the obsession some people have with Chinese food. Italian for instance is way better in my opinion," I said.

"Definitely," he agreed.

After we were done with dinner I noticed that it was already dark outside. Seems like we slept most of the day.

"I think it's time for me to go home Edward," I told him sadly.

"Why? Can't you stay here another night? I'll be gone for most of the rest of the week," he pleaded and there was simply no way I could refuse him, so I called Alice and told her I was sleeping over at Edward's place and that she didn't need to worry about me. Alice only laughed and said that she was staying at Jasper's anyway as Rose and Emmett occupied our apartment yet again. I laughed a bit and told her that we needed to have a serious talk with them and then hung up quickly.

In the meantime Edward already got ready for bed and told me he left some fresh clothes for me to wear to bed in the bathroom. Once I was done with my routine in the bathroom I went into the bedroom and lay down next to Edward on the bed, snuggling into his side. Like before he put his arms around me and I rested my head on his chest. We didn't talk much, we just enjoyed each other's company and slowly drifted off to sleep holding each other. A feeling I would have to live without for the rest of the week.


	10. I'll miss you

**I'll miss you**

When I woke up the next morning I saw that it was still dark outside. I looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand and saw that it was only 4.30 in the morning, still a few more hours to go until we had to get up. I snuggled back into Edward's embrace, trying to fall asleep again, but somehow sleep wouldn't come. After some time I gave up and decided to watch Edward again instead. I was once again struck by how vulnerable and peaceful he looked when he was asleep. I couldn't believe that this sleeping angel was a tough business man who didn't care about other people's feelings like he told me a few days ago. 'Unemotional' and 'Ice cold' were the words he used to describe himself then, but I knew that wasn't true. The way he treated me and his friends was the perfect example of how much love he was capable of.

"Hey," A voice said suddenly and pulled me out of my thoughts. I hadn't noticed that Edward had woken up. His voice was rough and deeper than usual from all the sleeping.

"Hey. Did you sleep well?" I asked him quietly, stroking his face. He closed his eyes again and leaned into my hand.

"I haven't slept this well for ages," he whispered and opened his eyes again to look at me. I smiled at him and lay my head on his chest so I could still look at him. We didn't say much for the next few minutes, we just stared into each other's eyes.

"I'll miss you," he breathed while his hands caressed my back.

"I'll miss you, too," I confessed quietly. "Will you call me?"

"Every day if you want me to," he answered smiling warmly at me.

"Thank you," I whispered and I leaned up to kiss him. I hadn't kissed him since I found the note Alice left for me two days ago. The kiss was gentle and sweet and when we ended it I saw his eyes sparkling with joy. I giggled a bit at this image and leaned in to kiss him again to which he responded eagerly. This kiss was different though. It was gentle, yet forceful. He took my bottom lip between his and sucked on it which caused me to moan into his mouth. Suddenly I felt his tongue tracing said lip, begging me for entrance which, of course, I granted. His tongue explored my mouth then and played with my own. While we kissed he pulled me completely on top of him and wound his arms around my waist to keep me close to him. When we broke the kiss we were both gasping for air.

"Yeah, I'm also going to miss this," Edward said, breathing heavily while smiling at me.

"Oh well, I'm sure you'll find some hot, attractive Chinese girls in Hong Kong that would be all too willing to help you not getting lonely," I teased him.

"Maybe you're right," he said, calling my bluff. I slapped his shoulder playfully which made him laugh.

"I was just joking, Bella. I'm not like that anymore," he said earnestly.

"I believe you. And even if you were, I would have the perfect weapon to punish you," I said.

"Huh?" He asked, looking at me confused. "You don't own a gun, do you?"

"No, I don't," I laughed, "but never forget that my best friend is none other than Alice 'Don't-you-dare-hurting-my-friends-or-else-I'll-hurt-you' Brandon."

"You think I'm afraid of tiny little Alice?" He asked me, laughing hard.

"Oooooh Mister, you have no idea. Alice is a force to be reckoned with. Hmm, I'm curious what she'll do when I tell her you called her 'tiny little Alice'. Did you forget the day at the coffee shop when she went outside with Emmett? Or maybe we should just call Jasper to see what they did to him yesterday?" I asked.

"She can't be that bad," Edward said, still not believing how scary Alice could be.

"Correction. Yes, she can. One day back in NYC she set up a date for me with this guy, I totally forgot his name. Anyway, to tell you the short version it was living hell, so I called Alice to rescue me and of course, she came. The guy on the other hand had no intention of letting me leave, so he turned to scare Alice away. To keep this short, he ended up lying on the floor writhing in pain as 'tiny little Alice' kneed him in the groin pretty hard. And the guy wasn't small! He was in the football team of NYU!"

"Seriously?" Edward asked, his expression now at least a bit scared.

"Yep," I sang happily.

"God, remind me to never get on Alice's bad side," he said.

"Yep, that would surely be your death sentence," I laughed.

"Well, I don't know Ms Swan, you probably forgot that Alice isn't the only who's gifted with a special talent," Edward said in a half-joking voice.

"Ooooh, so you're gifted as well, Eddie?" I giggled.

"Yeah, and especially being called 'Eddie' makes me use my gift. A gift that's torture for every woman on this planet," he announced.

"What? Can you read minds?" I asked him playfully.

"Noooo, it's way better than that," Edward said in a voice that was supposed to be mysterious but just cracked me up more.

"That's hardly possible," I laughed.

"Oh, why Bella, do you have some improper thoughts you don't want me to know?" He said wiggling his eyebrows which made me blush and him laugh harder.

"Don't distract me! Just tell me about that amazing talent of yours that could torture every woman on this planet," I said while rolling my eyes at him, trying to hide my embarrassment. He wasn't too far off the mark with 'improper thoughts'.

Edward just stared at me and then without a warning his hands went to my waist and he started tickling me. I laughed really hard because I was incredibly ticklish.

"Oh god, Edward, stop!" I laughed.

"Hmm, what would you be willing to trade for that?" He said and stopped while pretending to think about it.

"Erm, a hug?" I said, knowing full well that that wouldn't be good enough for him, but I tried not to start out too high.

"Hmmm, let me think…NO!" He screamed the last word and started tickling me again. We rolled around his bed, him lying on top of me while I was laughing really hard below him. At some point I managed to escape his hold and ran for it, laughing. Of course he followed me and chased me through his apartment. He was faster than me, but because I was shorter than him I could take little short cuts he wouldn't fit through, so it was an even fight. Well, it was an even fight until my klutziness chose to make an appearance and I tripped over the edge of a carpet in the hallway. I already prepared myself for the impact, but it never came. I felt two strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me up again. I was looking up at Edward's beautiful green orbs that sparkled with amusement.

"You should really watch where you walk," he said, trying to suppress a chuckle. I was about to protest when he suddenly threw me over his shoulder and carried me back to the bedroom. I was kicking and screaming in protest which only made him laugh harder. When we entered the bedroom he tossed me playfully onto his bed and started tickling me again as a 'punishment' according to him.

"Edward, stop! Please, Edward! I'll do anything! Anything you want!" I laughed. He stopped instantly.

"Anything, you say?" He asked and I nodded.

"Good. I'll think about something. For now you are free," he answered.

Up until this moment I didn't notice the position we were in. I was lying flat on my back on the bed while Edward hovered over me, his hands pinning my wrists above my head and his legs straddling my waist. I stared up into his eyes again and found a wholly new expression in them. They were still sparkling, but I couldn't find the usual happiness in them. All I saw was hunger. Pure unadulterated lust. This knocked me breathless. Was Alice really right with what she had said a few days ago? I remembered her exact words as if she were there in front of me speaking them yet again.

_Yeah, you are both, beautiful and smart. He finds himself not only being intrigued by your personality, but also desiring your body._

"Bella," he said in a rough voice before his lips once again met mine. This kiss was different from the one before. It was less gentle and tender, but more passionate and intimate. Edward pressed his body against mine and although I could feel all his weight I didn't feel uncomfortable. Quite the opposite actually. It had a strange calming and at the same time exciting effect to feel his weight on my body, his skin touching mine wherever it was possible. Edward deepened the kiss further by once again exploring my mouth with his tongue. I responded with a quiet moan which again made him moan loudly in return.

After a while Edward broke our kiss, groaning. Lying down next to me he put his arm over his eyes and remained like that for a while.

"Edward, are you okay?" I asked worriedly after some time, my voice still husky from our kiss. Edward groaned again.

"Bella, please, never tempt me like that again. It took every ounce of my self control to not just rip your clothes off and take you right there," he said, still not looking at me. I was dumbfounded. Alice was apparently right and as impossible as it sounds it really looked like Edward was desiring me the same way I was desiring him.

When I didn't respond in any way Edward pulled his arm away and looked at me with worry edged on his beautiful face.

"Bella? Bella love, did I scare you?" He whispered while caressing my face.

"No," I said, "I was just thinking about how close we already were to the point of no return," I confessed.

"We were really close, love, really close," was his answer.

After a few minutes of lying next to each other in silence I turned towards Edward again and snuggled into his side. His arms were around me immediately and I heard him sigh in contentment. I looked up at him and he was smiling his warm, crooked smile again, the one that made my heart melt.

"I really don't want to go," he said after a few minutes of us gazing into each other's eyes.

"I don't want you to go either, but you have to. It's your job. Go sign some important business deals over there and then come back quickly," I told him and he laughed.

"If it only were that easy," he sighed in response.

"How long are you staying there anyway?" I asked him.

"Well, as of now the plan is that I stay there till Friday, but this deal in particular is kind of difficult, so I might have to stay another week or two," he answered and I pouted.

"Believe me, I'd like to be done with it on Friday either, but you'll never know with these Chinese business men. They are very smart and sneaky." He laughed in response to my pout.

"I really don't like the idea of not seeing you for nearly three weeks," I said.

"Neither do I, Bella, neither do I."

At 6 o'clock we decided to get up and have breakfast. Edward once again made pancakes and just like the day before they were delicious.

"You really have to give me the recipe for these," I munched with my mouth full of delicious pancake.

"Really Bella, did your Mom never tell you not to speak with your mouth full?" Edward asked in a mock indignant voice and I smiled.

"I can't help myself, your pancakes are so delicious that I forget all my manners," I laughed.

"Well, it's good to hear you like them. They were prepared according to Nana Masen's secret pancake recipe," he laughed in response.

Suddenly we heard the doorbell ringing and looked at each other questioningly.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to have breakfast without being interrupted?" Edward asked annoyed.

"I really hope so, although it looks like our chances are rather slim," I answered, equally irritated.

Edward got up then and walked away to get the door. Unlike yesterday though our visitor didn't need to come into the dining room for me to know who he was. There was no one else on this planet with quite a voice like that.

"Hey Eddie, my brother from another mother! How are you this morning?" I heard Emmett's booming voice ask Edward in the hallway.

"Emmett, use your indoor voice. I really don't need my neighbors to wake up and start complaining," Edward said, still highly annoyed.

"Hey! Why are you in such a bad mood? And here I thought I was doing you a favor saying goodbye to you properly and therefore getting up really early and leaving my hot as hell girlfriend alone," Emmett said grumpily.

"Sorry Emmett. But it was really unnecessary."

"Hey, no one ever gets up to say goodbye to you, so I thought I should come here and do it for a change. I bet nobody else will show up," Emmett said proudly while walking through the doorway. I hated to burst his little bubble, but I just couldn't help myself.

"Hey Emmett, nice to see you! Did you want to say goodbye to Edward either?" I called, waving to him while I watched his face fall. However a few seconds later a devilish grin appeared on his face.

"So, that's why you were so unpleasant to me. You just wanted to be alone with Bella. I wonder what Jasper will say to this," Emmet said, smirking and pulling out his phone to call Jasper.

"I don't think Jasper will mind, right Bella?" Edward asked in a sweet tone while winking at me.

"Yeah. I think he will be okay with it. I mean I only stayed the night at your place," I answered and watched as Emmett's eyes grow larger by the second. When Jasper finally picked up the phone Emmett started talking instantly.

"Oooooh Jasper, my brother, I have some news and I don't think you'll like them," he started.

"Oh, it's just that I'm at Eddie's place right now and guess what I've found out!? Bella is here and she stayed the night at Edward's. See, Rose and I aren't the only ones who are going at it, as you liked to say, like bunnies."

Jasper apparently started talking and whatever he said didn't seem to amuse Emmett as his expression grew more and more somber by the second.

"What do you mean, you don't mind? You give Rose and me hell for having a bit of fun, but if Bella and Edward do it it's _okay_?" Emmett asked incredulously.

"What do you mean, you trust them? And you don't trust Rose and me?" He asked.

"Only because you didn't hear them doesn't mean they're not doing it," Emmett practically shouted.

"Gah! I can't believe you're serious about that!" Emmett said before hanging up and looking at us murderously. While Emmett talked to Jasper Edward moved to my side and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Stop grinning like that you two! I bet you were doing it as well. I know you Edward," Emmett ranted.

"Sorry to disappoint you Emmett, but we didn't. Bella is far too important to me to ever take chances with, so I changed my way of life," Edward answered calmly while looking into my eyes the whole time.

"Oh my god," Emmett said breathlessly, "Oh my freaking god."

"What?" Edward asked.

"You're serious," Emmett said, still absolutely shocked.

"Of course I am," was Edward's irritated answer.

"Wow! Eddie the prude is back! It took me ages to convince you that one-night stands are real fun when we were at Harvard and now you just throw all this away? I can't believe it," Emmett said.

What? Emmett was the one that made Edward a player in college? But, was he just playing with Rose then? And if he did would he even care about hurting her?

"Emmett," I hissed and he looked at me alarmed.

"Are you saying that you are only playing with Rose? That you'll dump her sooner or later for someone else?" I continued angrily while stalking towards him.

"What? No, I never said that," Emmett defended himself. I reached him then and poked my index finger into his chest.

"Swear to me that you'll not hurt her or, so help me god, Alice and I will hurt you," I seethed.

"I swear Bella! Really, I do," Emmett said hastily, looking truly scared.

"You better," I answered and turned around to walk back to Edward who looked at me admiringly.

"If any of you guys hurt one of us you're going to face the wrath of all three of us, so be warned," I said to both of them seriously.

"Yeah, uhm, I see that. You know Eddie, now that Bella's here I think my presence is no longer required. Have a safe trip, have fun and call me when you get back. See ya," Emmett stuttered and ran out the door. A few seconds later we burst out laughing.

"Jesus, Bella! Emmett was really scared of you. I haven't seen him like this since Esme got angry last time."

We laughed a bit more and then continued our breakfast.

"Edward?" I asked him once we were done.

"Hm?" He looked up at me questioningly.

"Would you mind if I came to the airport with you?" I asked shyly.

"Not at all Bella, but don't you have to go to work?" He asked, beaming at first and then growing somber.

"No, before we left Jasper's place yesterday Alice told me that I have the rest of the week off, so my injuries get better soon," I answered.

"Well, then I don't see any problems with you coming along. Wait! How are you going to get home? I'm going to park my car at the airport," he looked at me.

"I'll just take a taxi, that's no problem," I answered.

"Do you want to take my car?" He asked.

"No, it's okay. I couldn't forgive myself if I damaged your baby while you're gone," I teased him and we both laughed together.

Before it was time to leave for the airport I decided to call Alice, just to make sure everything was fine at the coffee shop or if they needed any help.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Alice, it's Bella."

"_Hey Bella! How are you? Does your face still hurt? I heard Edward's going on some business trip today, is that true? Is he gone already? Do you mind-"_

"Alice, phone calls are supposed to be dialogues, not monologues. But to answer you anyway, I'm absolutely fine and yes Edward's flight leaves in about two hours. I just wanted to know whether you need any help at the coffee shop?"

"_No, we're fine here. Just go home and relax. I already talked to Rose, tonight we'll have the second official couch meeting and Rose is going to spill. Oh, by the way you should go over to Jasper's place tomorrow. Rose picked his punishment and it's going to be so funny, but I won't say anything else."_

"Okay, I'll be there. See you Ally."

After I hung up I went to find Edward and saw him sitting on his piano in the living room. He looked up when he heard me coming and gestured towards the free spot next to him on the bench. I didn't hesitate, strolled over and sat down.

"Are you ready to leave?" I asked him.

"Not yet. I just need to play the piano once more. Then we can go," was his answer and he began to play a very beautiful and powerful song. You could easily see there was a meaning behind it. As soon as I heard the song a picture began forming in my head, a picture of an older lady and an older gentleman who despite being together for so long still loved each other like on the first day. I closed my eyes, a small smile playing at my lips while I listened to Edward playing the rest of the song. When the song drifted to an end I looked up at Edward and caught him staring at me.

"That song was beautiful, Edward. What was it about?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"I wrote this one for my parents. I was always fascinated by the love they share. It was as if nothing on this world could ever separate them," he told me.

"That's a nice story. I bet they love the song," I said and he smiled.

"Yes, my Mom especially. Every time I come home the first thing I have to do is play their song. My Mom still cries every single time she hears it," he said, still smiling sweetly.

"When was the last time you visited your parents?" I asked him because he sounded so wistful before.

"It's over a year ago that I was in Portland the last time. I miss my parents, but my schedule is just very, very full, so I hardly have any time to visit them," he sighed.

"Why don't you invite them to spend Christmas here in Seattle? Together with you, Giulia and Francesco? I think you said they were friends, right?" I asked him.

"That's actually a good idea and then I can finally introduce you to my parents. My Mom is really curious about you since I told her about 'Jasper's lovely cousin'," he smiled and I laughed lightly.

A few minutes later we were already sitting in the car and were on our way to Sea-Tac airport. We were silent for most of the ride, only making light conversation now and then. Once we arrived at the airport we went straight for the check-in counter. After getting rid of his suitcases, Edward and I walked a bit through the airport, looking at the different check-in counters and their various destinations. This was one of my favorite hobbies since I was a kid. I remember walking through the airport with my Mom and asking her about all the different places, where they were, how far they were away and so on. I smiled at the old memory and when Edward asked me for the reason why I was smiling so broadly I told him the story and he chuckled.

"You truly were one adorable little kid," he said and I smiled.

After a while it was time to say goodbye though as an announcement over the intercom stated that Edward's flight to Hong Kong was now ready for boarding and that all passengers should be on their way to the gate now. When we were standing at the barrier only people with airplane tickets could pass through I hugged Edward one last time and gave him a sweet and gentle goodbye kiss.

"Have fun in Hong Kong. And don't forget my postcard," I told him smiling with my arms around his neck.

"Thank you, but I doubt 'fun' is the right sentiment for a business trip. Anyway, you have fun, too, and take this," he said and handed me a key. I looked at him questioningly.

"Only in case Emmett and Rose are once again occupying your apartment. This is a spare key to my apartment. The people in the lobby know and won't block your way up."

"Edward, no, I can't take this," I said hurriedly and wanted to give him the key back.

"No, Bella," he said and closed my hand around the key with his, "I couldn't sleep well knowing that you had to beg other people to let you sleep over at their place. Just do me this favor."

"Okay," I whispered, blushing at his concern.

"Goodbye Bella, I'll miss you," he said with one last kiss before he turned and walked through the barrier.

"Goodbye," I whispered, too quiet for him to hear.

Once he was through the barrier he turned around one more time and waved to me and I waved back with a smile. Then he disappeared inside the airport and I was alone once again.


	11. Calls and messages

**Calls and messages**

It was a weird saying goodbye to Edward. I didn't know him for a very long time, but still I felt empty when I saw him disappear into the crowd at the airport. Not only did I feel empty, I also felt lonely, another thing I didn't understand. Was it possible to miss someone you only knew for about a week? Was it even possible to feel about someone the way I felt about Edward after only a week? Did it all go too fast?

On the entire way home I thought about this and every second I did so my insecurities about Edward and me grew stronger and stronger. By the time I was unlocking the door to my apartment I was already close to tears. This was the kind of situation where I needed my best friends to reassure me and despite knowing they were at work, I hoped Rose and Alice were home, but of course that wasn't the case. After pacing through the apartment for about an hour, still thinking about Edward and me, I had a major headache. I needed to get out and clear my head, but where was I supposed to go? Was there a place I could relax my mind? A place where I could forget about all my insecurities?

Yes. Yes, there was. The beach at Discovery Park.

I hurried out of the apartment building and walked along the street to Discovery Park. I expected the walk to my parents' favorite place in Seattle to be filled with more thoughts about Edward, but only knowing where I was headed gave me some peace of mind.

Once I actually arrived at the beach I sat down and stared out onto the water. I know I needed to talk to someone, someone I trusted and who wouldn't interrupt me. In that moment I did something I hadn't done for almost twenty years. I talked to my parents.

"Mommy? Daddy?" I whispered timidly.

I looked up at the sky, looking for a sign that this was actually working or if I was absolutely nuts. I was never the kind of person to go to church on Sunday, but I did believe in god and liked to think that my parents were in heaven.

After watching the clouds for several moments I was about to give up, but then suddenly the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the spot where I was sitting. It could have been mere coincidence that the sun broke through the cloud barrier right at that moment, but I liked to believe that it was my parents giving me a sign that they were listening. I smiled as I was about to continue talking.

"I miss you. I feel guilty for not once attempting to talk to you in the past 19 years, but it just made me too sad, but please believe me when I tell you that I thought about you very often."

At this point I didn't even care if there were people around listening to me. I wouldn't be embarrassed if there were. There's no reason to be ashamed of talking to your late parents who you missed more than anything on this planet.

Well, almost anything.

"I know you two are watching over me and I'd like to thank you for that. You might remember me sitting here last week. Well, I hope you do because there is something I would like to talk to you about. Last week when I was here a man joined me, his name is Edward and he's one of Jasper's best friends. I know that you probably know all that, but I feel better telling you about it myself. So, you see, Edward and I are very close in a very strange way. I can't say we're just friends because that would be a complete lie. But we're also not really a couple. I'm so confused. I know I don't know him for very long, but I have all these feelings and I'm just absolutely confused by that. Is there something wrong with our connection? It happened all so fast," I rambled.

And then, as if it was another sign, I had a flashback. I was five years old again and I was at home in Forks talking to my Mommy. That was a few weeks before the accident that changed my life so much.

_Daddy walked into the kitchen just before he left for work. He gave Mommy a kiss and walked over to me and ruffled my hair which made me giggle in response._

"_Daddy, stop," I said._

"_What? I'm not allowed to touch my little princess anymore?" He asked and pouted. I laughed and threw my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. He laughed then and kissed the top of my head. A few minutes later he turned for the door to go to work. _

"_See you two tonight! Have a nice day! I love you both," he said and walked outside to his cruiser. Daddy was the Chief of Police; he was a very strong man._

"_Mommy?" I asked._

"_Yes, honey?" Mommy answered and turned around to look at me._

"_Do you think I'll ever find someone as perfect as Daddy?"_

_Mommy laughed beautifully. She was so pretty._

"_I'm sure you will, honey, I'm sure you will."_

"_Mommy, when do I know that I love somebody?" I asked._

"_You know sweetheart, falling in love is a very beautiful feeling. You will know that you've found the man of your dreams when you're feeling certain things. If you are always happy around him, if he can make you laugh even though you want to cry and if he is there for you, hugging you when you're really sad then you are really, really close to falling in love."_

"_How long does it take to fall in love?" I asked._

"_It's not all about time, honey. Sometimes it takes years to fall in love with somebody, but sometimes it only takes seconds."_

"_Why?"_

"_Some people are best friends for years before they realize that they are perfect for each other. Other people, like your Daddy and me for example, have a special gift. These people don't need years to realize they love each other. They only need a few seconds or minutes to be sure. Something like that is called 'love at first sight'."_

"_Does that mean that you are in love with somebody, although you have only seen him once?" I asked._

"_Yes and this is the most beautiful way of finding your other half, sweetheart," she answered and caressed my cheek before she turned around again and continued making breakfast for the two of us._

When I came back to the present I had a small smile playing on my lips. I was sure that this little scene I had all but forgotten about was a way of my parents to show me that Edward was the right one for me. That all this wasn't too fast, it was just meant to be. I had a wide smile on my face when I once again raised my head to look at the sky.

"Thank you Mommy, thank you Daddy. I understand now. I love you both more than anything," I said and got up to leave.

I walked back to my apartment, feeling happier again, even humming some of my favorite songs under my breath. I was stupid not to think of an explanation like love at first sight. _Love._ Was that really what I felt for Edward? Not yet, but if we continued like that then I'm certain that I'll feel it soon.

Once I arrived back home I felt restless and wanted to do something to use up all the extra energy, a result of my sudden epiphany. I looked around and saw that I didn't really look at the apartment when I came back from the airport. It was really messy. Things were knocked over, no one had done the dishes and a layer of dust coated the furniture.

Cleaning. The perfect way to spend my extra amount of energy. The next few hours I cleaned our whole apartment, even disinfected every surface when I remembered Rose and Emmett's 'activities', and I was sure that the apartment was even cleaner than when we moved in. Now all I had to do was wait for the girls to have some more fun at our couch meeting. Yes, that's right, I'm looking forward to it.

Two hours later Rose and Alice walked inside the apartment laughing loudly, but fell silent instantly when they looked around.

"Hey ladies! How was work?" I asked brightly, coming out of the kitchen where I prepared my signature dish, lasagna (including a few improvements I had learned from Edward).

"It's so clean," Alice whispered in awe and looked around.

"What happened to this place?" Rosalie asked just as surprised as Alice.

"I was bored, so I decided to clean up a bit. I mean, seriously girls, I leave you alone for two nights and come back to find our apartment absolutely desolate."

"I beg to differ. _We_ leave _Rosalie_ alone for two nights and come back to find our apartment absolutely desolate," Alice corrected.

"Sorry, Alice, of course you're right. So Rosalie, care to share how all this happened?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows in a very Emmett-like fashion.

"Yeah, Rose, I suspect a certain man named Emmett Cullen had something to do with that, didn't he?" Alice asked, copying my expression.

If there was one thing I never ever expected to see in my life then it was Rosalie Hale blushing.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale, are you blushing?" I laughed.

"Damn. Stop it. It's an involuntary reaction. I can't do anything about it," Rose said, still flushed.

"Yeah, as if you ever stopped when I told you this. Sooooo?" I said.

"How about we move this to the couch? I'll get us some lasagna," Alice said.

A few minutes later we all had a plate of lasagna and sat, Alice and me facing Rose, on the couch. We didn't say anything, we just stared at Rose with wide We-want-to-know-what-happened-right-now eyes.

"Alright. So, you know how I went out with Emmett on Sunday. Well, he took me to one of those expensive restaurants and, to keep it short, I had a great time. We talked and laughed the whole evening and when we were back at our apartment I don't really know what came over me, but he stood there with this huge, proud smile when I told him I had an awesome time and I just kissed him. Well, our kisses grew more and more heated and at some point stopping was impossible," Rose said and I remembered very clearly how close Edward and I were to that point this morning.

"So? How is he? In bed, I mean," Alice said.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing. I had a lot of men in my life – don't tell Jasper! – but nobody ever made me feel like Emmett did. I felt beautiful, sexy, wanted and loved for who I am, not for my body. It was an indescribable experience. I could try to tell you all about it, but I doubt I would get it right."

Alice and I both 'awwed' at that and congratulated Rose on finding someone like Emmett.

"Enough about me! So Alice, tell me, what did you and my beloved brother do?" Rosalie asked suggestively.

"Well, I'm only going to talk about Sunday night as last night was a real disaster once you told Jasper about his punishment," Alice said.

"Hey! About that, what's the punishment for him? You never told me," I said.

"Well, missy, our lips are sealed. This punishment is for you and we want you to enjoy it," Rose said.

"Yeah! Surprise!" Alice squealed and bounced on the couch while clapping her hands.

"Ugh. I hate surprises."

"I know. That's why we're doing it," Rose laughed.

"Back to topic! So Alice, what happened Sunday night then?" I asked her.

"It was so romantic. Jasper took me out to that restaurant in the Space Needle. It was so beautiful once the sun had set. All those lights and the cars down on the streets," Alice gushed.

"Seriously Alice, you're from New York. That few shouldn't have been that spectacular for you," I said.

"Hey! Don't ruin this for me! Besides, New York and Seattle are really different from each other."

"Isn't the view in New York a lot nicer? I mean, there are the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building for example," Rose asked.

"Of course, New York is nice, but Seattle is just, I don't know, fresh, for me at least. I'm so used to New York already. That's also the reason I moved to Seattle with Bella, I'm a bit tired of New York," Alice answered.

"Tired of New York? I'd give anything to just be able to go there once," Rose said.

"You've never been to New York?" Alice asked incredulous.

"Nope."

"Oh god, we so have to go there then! We could visit my family whenever we have enough money and a bit of free time," Alice said.

"I thought you were tired of New York?" Rose asked then, surprised at Alice's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I am, but still I miss my Mom and Dad," Alice answered.

"Just for me to understand, if you want to go to New York so much Rose then why on earth did you decide to go to Stanford instead of Columbia?" I asked a bit confused.

"I've had enough of the constant rain, I just wanted sun, that's why I chose California. Anyway we are, once again, getting far off topic. What happened after you left the restaurant?" Rosalie asked Alice.

"We found you and Emmett going at it in our apartment. I had a hard time keeping Jasper from storming inside and killing Emmett. Once I had him calmed down I wrote a note to Bella and we left for Jasper's house. We decided to watch a movie and snuggled up to each other under the blanket on the couch. That's also when I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning I was lying in Jasper's bed while he slept on the couch. He's such a gentleman," Alice once again gushed.

"What, that's it? Nothing else? You didn't have sex?" Rose asked.

"No. It's way too early for that Rose," Alice said firmly.

"Yeah, Rose, not everyone can have sex after only a few days of knowing a guy," I said, agreeing with Alice.

"Hey, I don't just know him for a few days!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know you already knew him in high school Rose, but the last time you actually saw him was nine years ago," I answered.

"Yeah, but I already had a crush on him back then in case you've forgotten, Bella."

It was true. The last two years of high school Rosalie always tried to catch Emmett's attention, but for him she never seemed to be more than his best friend's sister.

"But that still doesn't-" Alice started to say, but was interrupted by my phone ringing.

I ran into the kitchen, picked up my phone and looked at the caller ID.

_Edward Masen_

Edward? Has he already arrived in Hong Kong? What time is it there anyway?

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Bella,"_ Edward answered.

"Edward! Hey! Are you already in Hong Kong?"

"_Yeah, the plane landed about two hours ago."_

"How was your flight?"

"_It was alright, nothing special. Although, now that I come to think of it, I had to sleep in the most uncomfortable first class seat ever. I don't think the people designing those seats ever thought about the fact that there are people who are taller than six feet. The seats were so small. I swear to god, I'm never ever flying with that airline again."_

"What's the name of the airline?"

"_I have no idea. Everything was written in Chinese. I can't wait to come home again."_

"Edward, you are in Hong Kong now for only two hours and already have enough?" I laughed.

"_Pretty much, yeah," he laughed with me._

"How late is it there anyway?"

"_Ugh. I forgot to set my watch to Hong Kong time. What time is it in Seattle?"_

"It's 9 p.m."

"_Okay, then it's- oh, it's noon here in Hong Kong. That's why it's so hot. The heat is killing me."_

"Are you still wearing your suit?"

"_Yeah, I didn't have time to change yet and right now I'm sitting in a taxi without air conditioning and there's traffic jam. I don't even want to think about how long it's gonna take to get to the hotel."_

"Oh, poor baby," I mocked him a bit.

"_Stop making fun of me! You just wait until I come home, missy! I'll use my gift on you and this time you won't get out of it so easily."_

I just laughed in response when I thought about how we had chased each other through the apartment this morning. At that moment I looked towards the door to the kitchen for the first time and saw Alice and Rose poking their heads around the corner with huge smiles on their faces.

"Listen Edward, I've got to stop now. Apparently there are two girls here who were eavesdropping on our conversation," I said looking towards Alice and Rose who ran back to the living room giggling loudly. I heard Edward laughing on the other end of the phone.

"_Alright! I'll call you again in the morning if that's okay?"_

"Sure, but won't it be really late then in Hong Kong? You need your sleep."

"_I'll be fine Bella. Don't worry about me."_

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow then," I said sadly, already missing talking to him.

"_Yeah. Oh, and Bella?"_

"Yeah?"

"_I miss you, too." _I blushed furiously when I realized he saw right through me.

"_Goodbye Bella. Sweet dreams."_

"Goodbye Edward," I whispered, still flustered.

When I walked back into the living room Rose and Alice started laughing at my very red face.

"Ooooooh what did Eddie say that made you so flustered?" Rose mocked and Alice laughed.

"Speaking of Eddie, what did you two do the last two days Bella?" Alice asked, still laughing.

After I told them about our two nights together Alice was squealing in delight and Rose was downright disappointed. Alice and I laughed really hard at Rose's expression.

"You really didn't have sex? What the hell? Emmett was so sure you two did when he saw you this morning, wearing Edward's clothes."

"Yeah, I could see he really wished we had sex because he called Jasper immediately to tell him about his 'discovery'," I said.

"Oh, so that was him waking us up so early in the morning," Alice said.

"Yeah," I answered.

"I only heard Jasper saying he trusted you and Edward before I fell asleep again."

"Yeah, Emmett was pretty pissed when he realized he didn't get us in trouble at all," I laughed remembering Emmett's face.

We talked for little longer before we decided to go to bed. Although I told them that there was really nothing wrong with me Alice and Rose insisted that I stayed home for the rest of the week. When I got up the next morning Rose and Alice were about to leave for work, so I just wished them a nice time and went to make myself some breakfast. Sometime during breakfast my cell phone rang and I went to get it while grumbling about never being able to have a peaceful breakfast under my breath.

"Hello?" I asked gruffly.

"_A very cheerful hello to you, too, Bella!" _I heard a booming voice on the other end say.

"Emmett?" I asked.

"_Damn right sister!"_

"How can I help you?" I yawned.

"_Well as Eddie boy is in Hong Kong right now I need your help picking out a present for Rose. I didn't dare ask Jasper. I value my life too much if you know what I mean."_

"Alright, what are the options?"

"_The blue one or the red one?"_

"The blue or red what?"

"_The blue lace panties and bra or the red lace panties and bra?"_

"Ugh, Emmett! Gross! Rose is my cousin! I don't really want to pick out the outfit for your next sexcapade."

"_Okay, then pretend you didn't hear me and tell me which color Rose prefers or which suits her better."_

"Ugh, it's still gross, but I'd go for red."

"_Why?"_

"Red's her favorite color and it suits her really well."

"_Thanks Bellsy. You were a real help. I'll tell you if she liked it."_ Emmett laughed shortly before he hung up.

"UGH!" I groaned which only made him laugh harder.

"_I'll see you later tonight for Jasper's punishment."_

"You'll be there, too?"

"_Sure, someone's gotta film all this for Eddie."_

Once we hung up I felt my phone vibrating again and saw that I had a new message. I klicked to see who it was from and felt myself smile when I saw it was from Edward.

_Bella,_

_I'm sorry, but I can't call you this morning. I'm still sitting in one of those boring as hell meetings and I'm totally jetlagged. I actually already fell asleep once. Luckily my substitute assistant Mike woke me up. _

_Edward_

I had to laugh really hard when I finished reading his message. What is it with him and falling asleep during important meetings and dates?

_Poor Eddie,_

_Shall I try to distract you, so you don't fall asleep?_

_Bella_

I hit the send button and went to do the wash up. My phone rang again.

_I'd actually like that a lot. _

I thought for a second what I was going to write before I decided to tease him a bit.

_You do know that I'm actually taking care of your duties over here, don't you?_

'Let's see if he can guess what I mean', I thought and smiled. I could picture him sitting there in a darkened conference room looking absolutely confused. A few seconds later my phone signaled that I had another message.

_Huh? My duties? What are you talking about?_

I giggled when I read that and replied instantly.

_Yeah, Emmett just called me and said as you aren't there I have to help him decide which color his gift for Rose should be. I decided she would prefer red lace panties over blue lace panties, wouldn't you agree?_

I didn't have to wait long for his reply.

_Oh god, he didn't. That's so gross. I would agree with you though, red is better, for Rose at least. For you dark blue would be better._

I was stunned when I read his message. Was he actually thinking about which color my underwear should be?

_And why's that?_

I couldn't resist asking him that.

_Because blue suits you. It makes your skin look beautiful. What color do you think would suit me?_

Hmm, what color would suit Edward best? Definitely not blue or red, that would just look horrible with his reddish brown hair.

_Well, either green or black._

Yeah, those two colors would suit him perfectly.

_Green or black? Why?_

Couldn't he guess?

_Green is the color of your eyes and would pronounce them perfectly. Black or maybe even gray would look perfect with your pale skin, the perfect contrast. Seriously, did no one ever tell you that before?_

I finished doing the dishes while I waited for his reply and put them inside the cupboard. I didn't want our apartment to look as horrible as it did yesterday again anytime soon. Once again my phone rang and I got a reply from Edward.

_Nope, no one ever told me that before, but I'll keep that in mind. So, are you going to be there for Jasper's little punishment? They won't tell me what it is and I still can't believe they're not waiting for me to come home to see it._

Dammit. So there goes my last chance of finding out what the others were up to as they all refused to tell me.

_Yeah, I'll be there. I don't know what they're up to either, but it must be really bad cause Alice said Jasper was already embarrassed. You don't have to worry about missing anything, though. Emmett told me before that he'll be there and film everything for you. I'll see whether I can persuade him to send it to you at once._

Well, if I can't I'll just steal the camera from him, run away and send the video to you anyway, I thought.

_Thanks, I'll be waiting for it. I have to go now. Damn meeting is finally over. At three in the morning. I just want to go to bed now and sleep for a very long time. Goodbye my beautiful Bella._

My heart sped up when I read how he called me. It took me a few minutes to calm down enough to send him a quick goodbye either. It's going to be a very long week without Edward. Or an even longer three weeks if things go horribly wrong in China.

The rest of the day I just spend at the apartment reading, watching TV and eating snacks. I knew the torture would begin once Alice and Rose came home because there was no way they would let me do my own make-up and pick out my own clothes if we were going out and I was sure we were going out. As usual when it comes to things like that I was right. They spent a total of two hours on my hair and make-up and picked out a dress which was way too short for my liking. Alice and Rose's dresses weren't much longer, but the difference between us was that they were actually comfortable in clothing like that.

"So, are you finally going to tell me where we're going?" I asked impatiently once we were all, apart from Jasper, sitting in Emmett's car.

"Hmm, I'll give you a little hint. A friend of mine owns a little business downtown and Jasper's going to work there tonight," Rose said, smiling hugely.

"What? He's just going to work? Where's the punishment in that?" I asked incredulous.

"Wait until you see little Bells. What Jasper has to do is _real_ punishment for a guy like him," Emmett laughed while driving the car.

A few minutes later we stopped in front of a tall building and got out of the car.

"Here we are," Rose sang and looked at me.

My jaw dropped at the sight before me. Was that what I thought it was? She wasn't serious was she? Oh yes, yes she was, I thought while watched her walking towards the entrance. The last thing I thought before I followed Rose was _poor Jasper._

_

* * *

  
_


	12. Punishments and parents

**Punishments and parents**

"Rose, is that a-"

"A gay club for men only? Yes, Bellsy, yes it is," Rose finished my sentence for me.

"But how do we get in there if it's for men only?" I asked.

"Bellsy, did you forget I know the owner? When I told Leah about my plan she immediately said she was in. We need to go through the backdoor, so Leah can introduce us to her staff so they don't throw us out. We'll get a special booth that overlooks the whole club, so we can watch little Jasper working," Rose said and giggled. I just looked at the other two confused and saw they were a bit confused, too.

When we reached the backdoor Rose knocked three times and only a second later the door was opened by a huge guy in a black suit. He looked at us critically for a second before telling us girls were not allowed in the club.

"I'm Rosalie Hale and these are my friends," was all she answered and the guy's serious expression vanished within seconds.

"Oh, Ms Hale, welcome to the 'Wild Paradise'. My name is Felix. Ms Clearwater is waiting for you in her office. Last door on the right," he said while smiling at us and gesturing towards a hallway on the right side. When we turned to go to the office I saw the guy wiggling his eyebrows at Emmett and licking his lips. Emmett just looked disgusted and – faster than I thought possible for him – he was at Rose's side and put an arm around her waist. Once we were out of earshot Emmett started complaining.

"Ugh, did you see that guy flirting with me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I could really see him undressing you with his eyes," I answered only to disgust Emmett further.

"Ugh, Bells, that's so not funny," he said, but we girls just laughed.

"Oh, my poor Emmy. Don't be mad at the guy at the door. It doesn't happen every day that such a fine specimen walks through his door. Everybody would swoon. But I'll make sure to show him you're _mine_," Rose said before kissing Emmett passionately. I looked back to the guy at the door and saw him look away disappointed when he spotted Emmett and Rose making out.

"I think that guy won't bother you any longer," I said and turned towards Emmett and Rose who were still kissing.

"GUYS!" Alice screamed and Rose and Emmett jumped away from each other.

"Seriously, get yourself together! There's enough time for _that_ later tonight at your apartment Emmett," Alice continued.

When we reached the door to Leah Clearwater's office Rose knocked three times once again and waited until we heard a voice calling us inside.

"Rose," A middle aged, but still very attractive woman said. She had dark skin, hair and eyes, high cheekbones and an amazing body. Only a few crinkles around her eyes showed her real age.

"Leah! It's so good to see you! Meet my best friends and sisters Alice and Bella and my boyfriend Emmett," Rose said introducing us.

After shaking hands with Leah and doing a bit of small talk we were lead to a room behind the bar and were introduced to the staff. One of the waiters showed us to our booth then and wished us a lot of fun. We each ordered a drink and waited for the big show to begin.

Below us the crowd went mad as the announcer officially started tonight's show. Taking a closer look we saw that all men inside the club looked really good and had really good style with a few exceptions. Of course, the first one to actually voice her opinion was our shopping and fashion addict Alice.

"Why do all gay men have such an incredible style and are so handsome, but still unavailable?"

"Well maybe that's because they're _gay_," Emmett stated, clearly uncomfortable with his surroundings.

"No shit Sherlock," Alice said and rolled her eyes.

The crowd of men below us still roared and it took a while for the announcer to calm them down enough, so he could continue his speech.

"So, to really get this night started I want you all to welcome our amazing waiters first. Come on stage guys," The announcer roared and one by one the waiters, all dressed in tight black pants and a tight black shirt, walked onto the stage. They looked all really handsome and had amazing bodies. Among them with probably the most embarrassed expression was Jasper.

"Oh my god, Edward's gonna die when he sees that. I've never seen him so embarrassed before," Emmett exclaimed. I looked over at him and saw that he was already filming.

"Did you film the whole announcement either?" I asked.

"Of course Bella. This one is a definite keeper." He laughed.

We watched then as the waiters and Jasper spread out through the crowd receiving whistles and admiring looks.

"Oh my god, look! LOOK! That dude is seriously grabbing Jasper's ass. Oh god, look at his face," Emmett shouted. All our heads whirled around and we saw a creepy old man with jet black hair flirting with Jasper. Jasper's face held nothing but shock and disgust. We watched as the man got closer and closer to Jasper and then put something inside the pocket of his pants.

"What did he give him?" Alice asked curiously, but none of us could answer her question. I was surprised Alice enjoyed this so much considering it was her boyfriend who had to deal with the guy.

We sat there watching how more and more men started flirting with Jasper. Not once did Emmett put down the camera. After about an hour Jasper made his way over to us with a sour expression on his face. As soon as Emmett spotted him he started cheering and we joined in. Jasper sat down next to Emmett who gave me the camera with an evil glint in his eyes which told me I was to film whatever happened next.

"Hey Jaspypoo, how was your night so far?" Emmett said in a voice deeper than his usual one and started rubbing his body on Jasper's who was sitting next to him. Jasper jumped up immediately which made us all laugh really hard.

"Yeah, incredibly funny," Jasper snapped at us which only made us laugh harder. I was still filming everything, but the camera shook from all my laughing.

"Hey Jasper, what did that old dude over there put in your pockets? Did he give you his number? Or maybe a tip?" Emmett managed to say in between laughs. Rosalie was currently clutching onto couch for support in order not to fall off it, Emmett was rolling on the floor slapping his hand onto the ground and Alice was trying her hardest not to laugh, but failed miserably.

Once we all calmed down Emmett took the camera from me and turned it towards Jasper.

"Say a few nice words for Edward who unfortunately couldn't be here to witness the show."

"I hope you're happy now Edward. I made a complete fool of myself and I won't ever live this down, so I hope this is punishment enough for beating you up and hitting Bella accidentally. Oh yeah, don't hold back, just go ahead and laugh at me! I don't mind! Not even my own girlfriend can keep from laughing at me, so…" Jasper trailed off, clearly annoyed with his punishment and our reaction.

"Hey sweet cheeks," the old creepy man from before whispered to Jasper while letting one of his hands glide down Jasper's arm, "wanna dance with me?"

"Oh fucking hell! NO! FUCK OFF! I'M NOT GAY!" Jasper roared and the man left, clearly frightened.

"Enough! I'm leaving!" Jasper said and stormed towards the dressing rooms.

"How long?" Emmett asked.

"One hour and fifty-three minutes."

"HA! Pay up little pixie! I told you he wouldn't do it longer than two hours," Emmett laughed; apparently he and Alice had made a bet on how long Jasper could stand it.

About half an hour later we were all sitting in the car, still laughing, and to our surprise Jasper joined in after finally escaping his admirers who didn't want to let him go as we attempted to leave the club.

"So, Jasper you never answered my question from before," Emmett said and grinned mischievously at Jasper.

"What question?" Jasper asked confused.

"What did the old man give you?" Emmett said and then added as he saw Jasper's hesitation: "Come on, you can tell us! We're practically family. I mean, I'm your sister's boyfriend."

Jasper's expression darkened considerably when he heard that and he just glared at Emmett for a few seconds before he unexpectedly smacked him hard on the back of his head. Luckily we were currently stopping at a red traffic light, otherwise this could have ended badly as Emmett was our driver.

"Yeah and I just showed you how much I approve of your relationship, so shut up," Jasper snapped.

"Man, calm down! You are so violent at the moment," Emmett said, rubbing the back of his head. Jasper took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before he spoke to Emmett.

"Yeah, sorry man. It's just that you dating Rose and Edward dating Bella is still a touchy subject for me." Dating? Maybe I should tell them that Edward and I are not yet a couple.

"Overprotective much?" Emmett joked to lighten the mood and succeeded as Jasper punched his shoulder playfully.

"Jazzy, we are so far off topic. Just tell us what the old creep gave you," Alice whined impatiently and we all watched how Jasper's amused expression turned to extreme embarrassment which made us all even more curious naturally. He lowered his head and mumbled the answer which none of us understood.

"Sorry, Jazz, I didn't really catch that. Could you repeat it one more time? This time just _a bit_ louder," Rose teased Jasper. She was clearly enjoying his distress. Once again Jasper took a deep breath and then answered.

"He gave me the key for his room at the Alexis Hotel."

There was silence for a few seconds before we all erupted into loud laughter, even Jasper cracked a smile. We were laughing for a few more minutes until we were able to calm down.

"Hey Bells, shall I drop you at your apartment or are you sleeping somewhere else cause neither Rose nor Alice will be there tonight?" Emmett asked after a few more minutes.

"Yeah, just drive to our apartment. I don't mind being alone," was my truthful answer, but still Rose and Alice bombarded me with worried looks and asked whether I was really okay with being alone for the night. After reassuring them for what felt like the hundredth time Emmett finally spoke up and ended our little argument.

"We're here Bells."

"Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Have fun tonight," I joked, wiggling my eyebrows at Emmett which cracked them all, especially Emmett, up. Before I left though I asked Emmett for the camera, so I could send the video to Edward.

When I was finally ready for bed about a half hour later I took out my phone and loaded the video of tonight onto it and sent it to Edward. I didn't expect a reply as it was currently 4 p.m. in Hong Kong and he was probably sitting in another meeting. I put my phone away then and turned off the lights.

Two hours later I still hadn't fallen asleep and I was getting really stressed, rolling from one side of the bed to the other. At some point I just decided to get up and get myself a bowl of cereal. I flipped all the lights on on my way to the kitchen, having a very strange feeling of unease. As soon as I sat in the dining room with my cereal that feeling increased and I had the strange urge to leave my apartment and go to a safer place. Of course, all the fear was irrational as no one else was in my apartment and the guys down in the lobby would make sure that nobody came up here who didn't live here. Still I wanted to get out of this apartment as soon as possible. After a few more seconds I remembered the key Edward gave me and called the person who was currently down in the lobby and told him to call a taxi for me. Only ten minutes later he called me back and told me the taxi was in front of the building waiting for me. I rushed down into the lobby, thanked the man at the desk and ran out and got inside the taxi.

When we pulled up at Edward's apartment I was getting nervous. I knew he said that he made sure that I would not be stopped on my way up to his apartment, but I couldn't help feeling a bit insecure about it. Once I stepped into the hall, though, all my insecurities flew out of the window as the man behind the desk greeted me.

"Good evening Ms Swan. Mr Masen called today to tell me to inform you that his fridge is stocked and that you can take clothes out the closet if you need any."

"Erm, thank you…?"

"Geoffrey."

"Thank you Geoffrey."

"You are very welcome Ms Swan. Enjoy the rest of the night."

I hurried to the elevators then and as soon as I stepped into the apartment I felt the feeling of unease that was haunting me vanish. The room was illuminated in a white glow by the moonlight, so I didn't turn on any lights, but went over to the large windows and looked at Seattle at night. The view was even more beautiful now than it was during the daytime. I enjoyed the peace and silence surrounding me until it was interrupted by my phone ringing. I received a message from Edward; apparently he had seen the video.

_Oh god, this is just too funny. I promise you, I _will_ never let him live that one down. But I think he's right, that truly was a big enough punishment for him, don't you think?_

_I know you probably won't read this for a few more hours, but I couldn't help myself and simply had to reply. You can't imagine how much I miss you, Bella. There is nothing I want more right now than coming home to you, love._

_Yours forever,_

_Edward_

I felt my heart swell at his words and immediately typed a reply to his message.

_Edward,_

_Believe me, I miss you, too. So much. How are things in Hong Kong? Is your charm working on those Chinese business men and you can come home at the end of the week? I really hope so._

_You might wonder why I am still up at three in the morning. I was alone at my apartment because Alice and Rose went to Jasper's and Emmett's place and I couldn't sleep. I don't know, but the apartment felt so empty and I just couldn't stay there. It didn't feel right. So, right now I am standing at the large windows here in your apartment, looking out onto the Seattle skyline and thinking about how much I miss you._

_Come home to me soon,_

_Bella_

After hitting the send button I went into his bedroom to get some clothes. I looked at different shirts, but somehow something was missing, but I didn't know what it was. I went to the bathroom then, deciding I would look for a shirt once I was done in there. When I entered the bathroom though I saw something dangling over the edge of the bathtub that made me realize what the shirts in Edward's closet were missing. There at the edge of the tub was the shirt Edward slept in two nights ago. I picked it up and held it to my face and inhaled. _It still smelled like him._ Unlike the shirts in his closet. I didn't hesitate, undressed and slipped his shirt over my head. Once again Edward's familiar smell hit my nose and I sighed in contentment. I felt comfortable, relaxed, calm and most importantly I felt safe and secure. I felt like I was finally home. Only one part was still missing to make this picture perfect and that one certain part was currently sitting somewhere in Hong Kong negotiating new business deals. Right that moment I heard my phone ringing in the bedroom.

_Bella,_

_I can't believe they left you alone. Don't they know how many things could happen to you? You could trip and hit your head somewhere or you could be hurt by burglars or I don't know what! I can't believe it! I'll call Jasper first thing next morning and tell him what I think about this. You can be sure about that._

_I'm glad though that you're at my apartment now. Geoffrey was told to let no one, not even Emmett and Jasper, up there apart from you. I also told him to call you tomorrow to make sure you're alright. Please don't be mad at me for these precautions. I wanted you to be absolutely safe while you're staying at my apartment._

_Things here in Hong Kong are working out better than I expected. Right now the chances of me coming home on Friday are pretty good. _

_Edward_

Never before had anyone taken care of me that way. I was always tough but shy Bella who could cope with life on her own. It touched me deep that someone like _Edward_, someone so perfect, cared whether I was safe or not and even took precautions to make sure I would be in any case. I felt tears well up in my eyes and replied to Edward's message.

_Edward,_

_It's okay, you don't need to call Jasper. Actually him and the girls asked me if I was alright with being alone for what felt like at least a hundred times, but I always told them I'll be alright. So I guess it's my fault that I had to leave my apartment and spend the night at yours._

_Thank you, Edward, for taking care of me. No one has ever done something like that for me before. You have no idea how much this means to me._

_Can you please tell me if you're coming home on Friday? I would like to pick you up from the airport if you don't mind. I just want to see you again._

_Bella_

Once the message was sent I walked over to Edward's bed and lay down there. I buried my head into his pillow and once again smelled his unmistakable scent. It was hard to define what he smelled like exactly. The scent was very masculine, but the rest was indescribable. The only thing I was absolutely positive about was that his scent was simply one of the best ones I had ever smelled. Then, for the third time that night, I heard my cell phone ring.

_Bella,_

_You are the most selfless person I have ever met and that's what I love about you. Other people would have simply told their friends to stay with them and not the ones they love, but for you your friends' wellbeing and comfort is more important than your own. You are really unique, Bella Swan, in the most positive way imaginable._

_Bella, love, I'd do anything for you and you know it. If anything happened to you while I was gone I would never forgive myself for not being there to protect you. You are the most important thing in my life now, Bella, never doubt or forget that._

_I will send you a message as soon as I know when I'll be back. I can't wait to see your smile again._

_You should go to bed now, Bella. If I'm right it's already four in the morning and you need your sleep. _

_Sweet dreams my love,_

_Edward_

That night I fell asleep with a smile on my face. There was no doubt left in my mind about my feelings for Edward after that last message. He was the most amazing man on this earth and I could no longer deny the fact that I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

I woke up the next day to the sun shining on my face. I opened my eyes and felt completely relaxed and rested. While rolling over to take a look at how late it was I remembered last night and my epiphany. I felt a smile spread across my face and closed my eyes, once again enjoying what I had found out last night. I loved Edward and I would always love him for the rest of my life for being the kind of man he was.

After a few more minutes I got up and went into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for myself. I opened the fridge and saw that Geoffrey was not understating when he said the fridge was _stocked._ It looked like Edward had bought everything he could find at the grocery store to make sure that he had all the stuff I liked. After rummaging through the fridge for a few minutes I decided to make myself scrambled eggs and blueberry pancakes.

Ever since I was about 14 I loved cooking and being able to cook in a kitchen as amazing as Edward's made my day. It was very modern and stocked with everything one could possibly need. Right that second I realized that Edward and I shared our love for cooking and I made a mental note to ask him whether he would like to cook with me someday. When I was finished with my food I put it all on different plates and carried it into the dining room.

Maybe it was my destiny to never have a quiet breakfast because right when I wanted to start eating the phone rang. I expected it to be Geoffrey to check whether I was okay. I couldn't know how very wrong I was.

"Hello?"

"_Oh my gosh, hello! You must be Bella, right?"_ I heard an excited female voice squeal over the phone.

"Uhm, yes, that's me," I said, confused about who might call me.

"_Oh my god, I'm so excited! Edward told me so much about you. Even Giulia and Francesco are gushing about how perfect you are."_

"Uhm, thanks, I guess. If you don't mind me asking, but who are you?" She sounded really nice, but she just kept on confusing me further. Who was she and how did she know Francesco and Giulia?

"_Oh, I totally forgot to tell you. I'm Liz, Edward's Mom. I can't wait to meet you."_

"Oh, it's nice to talk to you Mrs. Masen," I said stiffly, suddenly anxious.

"_Oh sweetheart, no need to be anxious. You can call me Liz. I don't bite! Edward told me you were at his apartment when he called this morning and I just couldn't resist calling you. I really need to thank you Bella."_

"Okay Liz, but what for?"

"_For bringing back the happy and content Edward that was absent for so many years. My son is finally himself again and that's all because of you."_

"Er, thank you, although I don't think that I'm the only reason for that."

"_Aw, you truly are as humble as Edward told me-"_

"_Liz, don't tell me you really did call Edward's apartment,"_ A deep male voice that I guessed belonged to Mr. Masen interrupted Liz.

"_Yes, I did Edward and guess what! She really is endearing, just like Giulia said. Do you want to talk to her?"_ I didn't hear Mr. Masen answer, but I heard the phone rustling, so I guessed Liz just handed the phone to her husband.

"_Hello?"_ Mr. Masen asked.

"Hello Mr. Masen," I answered in a small voice.

"_Oh honey, go ahead call me Edward. Shouldn't be too hard for you to keep that one in mind, should it?"_ He chuckled and I couldn't help myself to giggle in return.

"_So, you are the mysterious girl who has my son - and Francesco if I may add - wrapped around her little finger. I hope my son's behaving well enough?"_

"He was always the perfect gentleman," was my answer to his question.

"_Good, just the way he should be. I do want to apologize for my overenthusiastic wife, though. As soon as she heard Edward had finally found himself a decent girl she wanted to get to know you."_

"Thank you. It was my pleasure to be able to talk to her."

"_Yes, you really do sound like a nice girl. I don't want to waste any more of your time. I do hope we'll get to see each other soon though."_

"I would like that."

"_Have a nice day, Bella."_

"You, too."

I couldn't believe I had just talked to Edward's parents. They sounded really nice and his mother kind of reminded me of my Mom. She was just as enthusiastic and happy as my Mom was when she was still alive.

I continued eating my breakfast with a smile on my face thinking about Edward's reaction when he heard his Mom had called me. I could really picture him running his hand through his hair while groaning. I giggled a bit at that and then went into the kitchen to clean the dishes.

When I was about halfway done with the dishes my phone rang for the second time that morning. I walked back into the dining room to check who it was.

_Emmett Cullen._

Emmett?

"Hey Emmett! What's up?" I said cheerfully and smiled, but stopped instantly when I heard a sob from the other end of the line.

"Emmett?" I asked concerned.

"_Bella, something horrible happened."_

_

* * *

  
_


	13. Accidents and flashbacks

**Accidents and flashbacks**

"Emmett? What happened?" I asked. I was scared, Emmett never cried.

"_B-Bella, i-it's Jasper,"_ was all he answered.

"What? What is it? What happened to Jasper? Emmett tell me," I shouted the last part, starting to freak out.

"_H-He had a-a car accident this morning."_

"He's alright, right? Tell me he's alright!" I demanded stupidly. Of course he wasn't alright, otherwise Emmett wouldn't be sobbing. What happened? He was supposed to be home this morning, not driving around in his car. But he was still alive, right? Emmett didn't say he was dead or something. The doctors would be able to fix him up completely, wouldn't they?

"_Bella, I-I think i-it would be b-best i-if you came here a-as soon as p-possible."_

"Which hospital?" I asked surprised by how calm my voice was in that second, although I was anything but that on the inside.

"_Harborview,"_ was all he said. The same hospital I was in a few days ago. This calmed me down at least a little bit. Maybe Dr Cullen was there. If anyone could fix Jasper up it was Carlisle. I had read an article about his excellent reputation once Edward and I got out of the hospital because I was curious about him. _Edward_. I wished he was here right now, wished he could be there for me, wished I didn't have to go to the hospital alone.

"I'm on my way, Emmett. Thank you for calling me," I answered stiffly and hung up instantly.

I quickly dressed in normal clothes and rushed down to the lobby. Once I got there I saw Geoffrey behind the desk smiling at me, although his smile vanished and was replaced by a concerned expression when he saw me.

"Ms Swan are you-"

"Geoffrey, please call Edward and tell him to call me as soon as possible. Tell him it's serious. Please, can you do that?" I asked Geoffrey, not trusting myself to call Edward myself until I knew what was going on with Jasper.

"Of course Ms Swan," Geoffrey answered and I nodded, rushed outside and jumped into one of the taxis parking in front of the building.

"Harborview Medical Center," I told the driver quickly and sensing my concern he immediately left without asking any questions. Luckily Edward's apartment wasn't too far away from Harborview, so it just took a few minutes to get there. When the taxi parked in front of the hospital I threw a fifty over the seat to the driver and told him to keep the rest. I didn't have time for him to get the change.

I entered the hospital and ran towards the desk that was closest to me.

"I'm looking for Jasper Hale," I told the woman behind the counter breathlessly. She turned towards her computer and looked for Jasper's name on the list of patients. I drummed my fingers impatiently on the desk and stared at the woman intently. She seemed to be annoyed by my impatience.

"Are you part of his family?" She asked looking at me.

"Yes, I'm his cousin," I answered.

"I'm sorry, only first-degree relatives are allowed to see Mr. Hale at the moment," she sneered at me. I looked at her disbelievingly.

"Look," I glanced at her name tag, "Victoria, I need to see him. We grew up together, I lived with him for most of my life. He's like my brother," I told her desperately, but her expression just got more and more taunting.

"Still, that doesn't make you a first-degree relative."

"And why the hell are his friends allowed up there then? They_ called_ me from up there and told me to come here," I was practically screaming at this point and many heads in the room turned in our direction.

"Miss, would you please keep your voice down? Otherwise I will have to call security to lead you off premises," she said, her sneering expression still in place.

"The hell I will! I want to see my brother! NOW!" I screamed. No voice apart from mine could be heard as the whole room turned quiet and watched the scene unfold.

"I'm sorry Miss, but he-"

"Bella," A voice interrupted Victoria and I whirled around to see Carlisle walking towards me.

"Oh Carlisle, thank god! Please, I need to see Jasper, but she won't let me up to his room," I said desperately while gesturing towards a now very surprised looking Victoria. Apparently she didn't expect me to know the head of the surgery department.

"Of course you can see Jasper. I was actually on my way to the OR to help the other surgeons who are already tending to Jasper's wounds," he told me and then turned his head towards Victoria with an angry expression on his face. She looked clearly ashamed and frightened by this point.

"We are going to talk later Victoria. You know very well that Bella has every right to see her cousin."

With that Carlisle turned again and gestured for me to follow him. When we got into the elevator I had to ask him the one question that was on my mind since I heard he was going up to help with the surgery.

"It's bad, isn't it? Otherwise you wouldn't need so many surgeons," I asked in a weak voice.

"I don't want to lie to you, Bella, his condition is very serious. I don't know what exactly happened, but it must have been one hell of an accident." I just nodded weakly, staring ahead of me blankly. I know how bad car accidents could be, I've lost my family in one.

"Bella," Carlisle's voice interrupted my thoughts. He walked in front of me and placed his hands on my shoulders, looking deeply into my eyes, trying to reassure me.

"Bella, I'll do everything in my power to make sure Jasper will be fine again. And I don't just do this because I like him and he's important to me, but also because Rose, Alice and you are important to me. I know I don't know either of you for a very long time, but in the short time I actually do know you I've seen that you make the boys happy, changed them and that's what matters. Edward and Jasper already are sons to me and all you girls are like the daughters I always wished to have. I care about you, too, and I don't want the people I care about to be unhappy or sad. Do you understand that Bella?" He said urgently.

"Yes, thank you Carlisle," I said and as unbelievable as it may sound I actually believed him. There was something about Carlisle I already noticed when I first met him and I guess I just found out what it was. He was compassionate and had a big heart. If the people he cared about found someone special then he didn't hesitate to include those special people in his love. Whoever made the people he cared about happy made him happy and I was lucky to count myself as one of those people.

The elevator doors opened and we stepped outside. Carlisle showed me which way to go and then left me as he had to prepare for surgery. I walked around the corner into the hallway Carlisle had shown me and felt my heart miss a beat or two at the scene in front of me. There they were, Emmett, Rose and Alice, and all of them were crying. Emmett had his face in his hands, but his body was shaking with silent sobs. Rose had her eyes closed, the back of her head rested against the wall behind her and tears were flowing down her face. Alice's posture though frightened me the most. She was sitting stiffly on the chair, her back ramrod straight, and looked at the wall opposite her with a blank expression. It was as if she was concentrating very hard on something. If I would believe in things like that I would say she was looking out for Jasper's future.

I walked over to them slowly and quietly and none of them noticed me, not even when I was standing right in front of them. I didn't know who to talk to, they all looked like they wanted to be left alone. I decided against talking and simply sat down next to Emmett. Still none of them noticed me, or maybe they did and simply didn't want to talk to me.

After a while I simply couldn't stay silent any longer, I needed to know what had happened.

"Emmett?" I whispered. He looked up at me instantly.

"Bella? How long are you already here?" He asked. It seems like they really didn't hear or see me before.

"I arrived about thirty minutes ago. What happened, Emmett?"

"It was so horrible, Bella. This morning both, Jasper and me, got a call from the management of your apartment building. Apparently Rose and Alice gave them our numbers in case of an emergency. Anyway, so they called us to tell us that someone broke into your apartment sometime between two and three in the morning. Of course, we were instantly worried about you and, after calling each other, decided to go to the apartment and see if something had happened to you. Jasper was driving in front of me and…it all happened so fast…don't be mad at me, Bella, I couldn't help him…" Emmett choked at the end.

"It's okay Emmett, I'm not mad at you. Of course you couldn't help him, you were in a different car. Now tell me exactly what happened, please," I tried to soothe him.

"There was this truck on the other side of the road and the driver lost control over it and then it crashed right into Jasper's car and then there was twisted metal everywhere and…Bella? Bella, are you alright? Bella, can you hear me?"

As soon as I heard what happened I felt like ice water was running through my veins and I went totally numb. I neither heard nor saw Emmett any longer. Everything was blurry and a second later everything went black and I was the five year old kid all over again.

"_Auntie Lillian?" I asked my favorite auntie._

"_Yes, honey, what is it?" She answered and smiled._

"_When are we going to arrive in Forks?"_

"_We'll be in Forks in about ten minutes, Bella. Soon you'll be home."_

"_Auntie, you have to see the kitchen. Mommy, Daddy and I repainted it. It's really pretty," I answered, smiling happily when I remembered how much we laughed when we were painting the kitchen._

"_Of course honey, I'm really curious to see it," was her answer and then she turned back to Uncle Richard._

_I stared out of the windshield towards Mommy's and Daddy's car. Mommy was waving her hands wildly and seemed to laugh. I loved it when Mommy laughed. She was so lovely when she laughed. I giggled at the picture before me and so did Auntie Lillian when she saw what I was giggling about._

"_Seems like your Mommy is entertaining your Daddy," Auntie Lillian chuckled._

"_Poor Daddy. He always says Mommy talks too much and sometimes I think he's right," I answered and Auntie Lillian laughed._

"_Well, that seems to lie in the family. I'm actually surprised your Auntie Lillian was so quiet the whole ride. She probably wants to impress you, but let me tell you a secret Bellsy," Uncle Richard whispered the last part, "She's just as bad as your Mommy."_

_Auntie Lillian hit him playfully and said: "You know you love me Richard!" Uncle Richard just laughed and kissed her knuckles._

_I was still giggling at my uncle and auntie when I saw a huge truck coming around the corner, but the truck was driving weirdly. The truck was going to hit Mommy's and Daddy's car. I screamed a warning, wanting Mommy and Daddy to avoid the truck. I wasn't the only one screaming. Auntie Lillian and Uncle Richard screamed as well. _

_Then there was a loud bang followed by a horrible crunching sound and Uncle Richard stopped the car abruptly. I was catapulted to the front, but luckily my seat belt held me back._

"_Kids are you alright?" Auntie Lillian asked and I looked up to tell her I was fine._

_But when I looked out of the windshield I saw Mommy's and Daddy's car was lying below the truck._

"_Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed, opened the door and ran towards their car to safe them._

"_Bella, no!" I heard voices say behind me, but I kept on running. I had to safe Mommy and Daddy. They mustn't be in pain._

_Suddenly I was caught around the waist by someone and I thrashed against their arms._

"_Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed again, wanting them to step out of the car and tell me they're fine._

"_Richard did you call an ambulance?" The person who was holding me asked and then I knew it was Auntie Lillian._

"_Let me go! Let me help Mommy and Daddy!"_

"_Honey, you can't help your parents now," my auntie tried to soothe me._

"_Then you help them! Somebody help them!" I yelled and kicked. I continued this way for minutes. Why weren't they helping Mommy and Daddy? Why didn't they do anything?_

_Then I heard sirens in the distance and then suddenly there were cars with flashlights on their roofs. A lot of men ran towards the car. Finally somebody helped Mommy and Daddy. I quieted down in my aunties arms and watched the men. Why were they looking so serious? Why were they looking so disappointed?_

"_Sir? Are you the ones who called for the ambulance?" A man asked Uncle Richard._

"_Yes, we're relatives. We were right behind them when it happened. The truck driver lost control over his vehicle and crashed into them," was my uncle's answer._

_They continued to run back and forth, but looked more and more disappointed and sad by the minute. I saw the man who was standing closest to Mommy's and Daddy's car shake his head. What did that mean?_

"_Sir? We're sorry, but we couldn't do anything for your brother- and sister-in-law. They died instantly when the truck hit their car."_

_Died? Mommy and Daddy? NO! They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't leave me alone._

"_NO," I screamed and tried to get away from my aunt again._

"_Shhhh, honey, quiet, I'm here, I'm here," my auntie tried to soothe me._

_At one point I started crying. Why didn't Mommy and Daddy come back out of the car? Why did they leave me? Didn't they love me anymore?_

"_Mommy…Daddy," I sobbed over and over again while Auntie Lillian cried with me and cradled me in her arms. I slowly got more and more tired and then fell asleep in Auntie Lillian's arms. I wanted to escape this nightmare. I wanted to wake up and see my Mommy and Daddy smiling at me again._

"Bella? Bella? Can you hear me?" A female voice shouted. "Rose, what's going on with her?"

"I don't know, I've never seen her like that. Bella? Please, say something! Dammit where's Emmett? He's supposed to go get a doctor," Rose said. In that moment I realized that the other voice belonged to Alice.

"Bella? Bella!" I heard a shout from further away. Suddenly the voice was beside me. "Oh my god, Bella, not again," the woman sobbed.

"Mom? What's up with Bella? Why is she shaking, sweating, crying and calling for her parents the whole time?" Rose asked Lillian who was apparently kneeling next to me.

"This is just the way she was the first few weeks after her parents' death. Oh god, I bet Jasper's accident brought back all the horrible memories she has blocked out over the years."

I was unable to answer her or say anything at all. I was paralyzed.

Suddenly I felt strong arms wrapping themselves around me and lifting me up from the ground.

"Carlisle will be here in a second. I'll just carry her until he's coming. I can't stand to see little Bellsy that way," Emmett's deep, unmistakable voice answered. Only this time the usual playfulness in it was missing. He sounded like he was in pain.

Just like Lillian did the night my parents died Emmett cradled me in his arms and whispered soothing words in my ear. I gradually relaxed and buried my head in Emmett's chest. I was thankful that Emmett was there. Throughout my whole life Emmett had always protected me and I was glad that he was there now when I most needed him.

"Emmett? What's going on? Dr Miller just said someone-" A familiar voice, Carlisle's voice, said but broke off abruptly. Apparently he had seen me.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked in a serious voice.

"I told her what happened to Jasper and then suddenly she started crying and fell to the ground and started shaking," Emmett answered concerned.

"I don't understand," Carlisle said.

"But we do Dr Cullen. Bella's parents died when a truck hit her parents' car the same way Jasper's car was hit this morning. They died instantly and she was in the car behind them with us, watching them die," Uncle Richard said quietly. I cried out in pain when the memories came back to me once more. A new round of crying and shaking started.

"Well, this explains everything then. Bella? I know you can hear me, so please listen carefully. Jasper is going to be fine. His surgery ended a few moments ago and we're pretty positive he'll be alright. I'll sedate you now and then you're going to sleep for a while, okay?" Carlisle said and I felt a needle pierce the skin of my upper arm. I fell asleep almost instantly.

When I woke up later I heard quiet whispering in the background. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't find the strength to do so. Instead I just listened.

"I hope she'll wake up soon. Edward's sick with worry," an unfamiliar female voice said.

"She'll come around, honey. She just had a very unpleasant flashback. That happens from time to time when people have experienced something horrible," a voice I recognized as Carlisle's answered. I guess the woman he was talking to was his wife and Emmett's mother, Esme Cullen, the woman I had never met before in my life.

"Yeah Mom, don't worry. Bellsy is stronger than she looks like. At least emotionally, physically she's absolutely defenseless," Emmett chuckled and so did I. The room was suddenly very quiet.

"Did she just chuckle?" Emmett whisper yelled at his father. I tried to open my eyes and this time it worked.

"Yes, I did, Emmett," I croaked.

"BELLSY!" Emmett roared, ran over to my bed and hugged me tightly.

"Emmett…can't breathe," I choked out and he let me go instantly.

"Oh, sorry," Emmett said and we both started laughing.

"Seriously Bellsy, you scared me quite a bit with your stunt this afternoon. Never do that again, you hear me? I don't like seeing my little sister like that," Emmett said seriously and I felt tears in my eyes when he said 'little sister'.

"Little sister?" I asked quietly, close to tears.

"Sure. You always were my little sister. And if Rose and I get married someday we'll be officially related, isn't that cool?" Emmett asked enthusiastically.

I just sat up, hugged him around the waist and whispered a quiet thank you. He wrapped his arms around me and patted my back lovingly. After a few moments though Emmett's usual loud self was back.

"Hey, Bellsy! I totally forgot, but you never met my Mom before. Mom, get over here, I gotta introduce you to my little sister," Emmett roared and I jumped slightly because his loud voice startled me. I heard a loud smack and a second later Emmett's complaints.

"Ow Mom! What was that for?"

I saw a short, beautiful woman with caramel hair standing right next to Emmett glaring at him.

"First of all, you startled Bella over here which isn't very nice, second, use your indoor voice when you're inside and stop yelling around and third, never, _never_ use that tone on me again, mister! Only because you're 27 now doesn't mean you can talk to me just like you talk to your friends. Do we understand each other young man?"

"Yes Mom," Emmett whispered and lowered his head in shame. I had to giggle at that. Emmett was such a huge and intimidating man, but deep down he was a complete softie who still listened to his mother.

Esme Cullen then turned towards me and smiled at me brilliantly.

"Hello dear, my name is Esme. I'm Carlisle's wife and the mother of that big oaf over there," she said pointing at Emmett who pouted in response.

"It is so nice to finally meet you Mrs. Cullen," I answered and it was true.

"Oh dear, please call me Esme. Mrs. Cullen makes me sound so old," she laughed.

"Mom, you _are_ old," Emmett said and once again I heard a smack and saw Emmett rubbing the back of his head.

"Watch what you're saying Emmett McCarty Cullen." She glared at him.

"Yeah, Emmett, that truly wasn't very charming," I said.

"ARGH! You ally with the violent matriarch! Oh Bella, I thought I meant something to you," Emmett joked and touched his hand to his heart as if I had hurt him deeply.

"Bella, if you want to smack him, just do it and don't hold back because I'm in the room. I completely understand," Esme said seriously and I giggled.

"Bella would never hurt me Mom, unlike you," Emmett said, pouting sadly, although I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Don't you love me Emmett? Don't you love your short, adorable mother?" Esme pouted in response and to my surprise she seemed to have perfected that expression. She looked so sad and lovely at the same time that no one could ever deny her anything.

"Of course I do, Mommy. You're the best," Emmett said and hugged his mother. Carlisle and I just laughed at the exchange that was taking place right in front of us. As soon as Emmett released Esme I asked the question that was on my mind since I woke up.

"How's Jasper? Are Rose and Alice with him?"

"He's fine. He can't have too many visitors at once and the few who are allowed in can't stay for very long because he has to rest. I think the girls should be back within the next ten minutes. They will be really relieved when they see you're awake. You scared them quite a bit. The same goes for your aunt. She had to go home after only a few minutes because the day was just too stressful for her with her son's accident and your mental breakdown. She'll be fine though. She said she'll come back tomorrow," Carlisle answered.

"Speaking of stressed people, you really have to call Edward. He threatened to take the next flight to Seattle when he heard about your little panic attack. I told him to wait at least until you wake up. He's been calling me every ten minutes for the past three hours. I wonder when he's gonna call next," Emmett said and then right on cue his cell phone rang.

"I bet that's him," he mumbled.

"Hello?" Emmett asked.

"Hey Edward…what?...no!...wait, she just woke up man…wait a second…" Emmett walked over to me and handed me the phone. "You better talk to him, he's going crazy."

"Hello?"

"_Oh god, Bella. How are you? I was so scared! What happened?"_ Edward said, freaking out slightly.

"Edward, I'm fine. I just had a little unpleasant flashback moment when I heard about Jasper's accident," I tried to soothe him.

"_Little unpleasant flashback moment??? Bella, you just had a full scale panic attack and don't try to sweet talk your way out of this! Emmett told me exactly what happened. What was your flashback about?"_

"Do you remember the day we met at the beach?"

"_Of course I do."_

"Well, it was about what I told you then."

"_Oh your parents' accident. I'm sorry Bella,"_ he said quietly.

"It's okay, you couldn't have known."

"_I could've guessed when I heard what happened to Jasper. I'm sorry if I was being mean to you before Bella. I was just so worried,"_ he apologized.

"You don't need to be. I'll be fine."

"_I was really considering coming home early. Carlisle even said that was okay with him."_

"He did?" I asked surprised and looked at Carlisle. He just smiled, guessing what I was talking about and nodded.

"_Yeah. Things are fine over here anyway. I'll come home tomorrow. My flight lands at Sea-Tac airport at 10 p.m."_

"I'll pick you up as we planned, alright?" I asked brightly.

"_Yes, I'm looking forward to it,"_ he said happily.

"Me too."

"_Bella, I have to go now. I already cancelled one meeting and I can't afford to cancel another. I miss you, love. I'll see you tomorrow."_

"I miss you, too. I'll be waiting for you at the airport."

Once I hung up I looked around the room and saw that I was no longer alone with the Cullens. Alice and Rose must have come inside while I was on the phone with Edward. When I took a closer look at all of them I saw that they were all smiling at me happily and that's when I realized that they listened to my phone call with Edward. Of course, as usual, I blushed furiously and looked down which made them all laugh. A few seconds later I felt two pairs of arms around me and looked up to see that Alice and Rose were hugging me.

"Finally you're awake. Never do that to us again, Bella! We were so scared about you," Alice sobbed.

"Yeah, never ever do that again," Rose agreed with Alice. She too looked on the brink of tears. I hugged them both closer in response.

"I'm sorry, girls."

"So Bella," Emmett said once the girls and I stopped hugging each other, "Seems like Eddie's coming home tomorrow?"

"Yes," I sighed which made all the girls giggle.

"So, do you already have an idea how to welcome him back properly," Emmett said and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively which made me blush. Of course, only Emmett could think about _that_ right now.


	14. Restaurants, hospitals and airports

**Restaurants, hospitals and airports**

I didn't have to stay at the hospital overnight as Carlisle was pretty sure that I wouldn't have another mental breakdown. He said that the reason for me collapsing was probably just the stress caused by Jasper accident and the break-in into our apartment.

_The break-in._

I didn't really think about it at first as I was too worried about Jasper. But now the break-in worried me a lot. I didn't think the bad feeling I had last night meant anything special, but apparently it did. The burglars entered my apartment between two and three in the morning, the time when the weird feeling of unease started and I decided to leave the apartment. Coming to think of it now, it was probably one of the best decisions in my life so far. I talked to the police a little while after I woke up and they told me that the whole apartment was destroyed. The tables, chairs, couches, beds and closets were chopped with what they think was an ax. Just thinking of what could have happened to me if I would have still been there makes me shudder. These burglars didn't seem to care about anything else but getting as many valuable possessions as possible. I could really imagine that any person standing in their way would be mercilessly killed by them. Or maybe if the person was a woman and they had a good day they would only rape her. I shuddered again and willed myself not to think about it further.

Before I was leaving the hospital for the night I went to check on Jasper. He looked horrible with cuts all over his face, his arms and legs bandaged and a breathing mask covering most of his face.

"Hey big brother," I greeted him. Of course I knew he couldn't hear me, but I read somewhere that it was good to talk to unconscious patients, so that was what I did.

"Get well again soon. With Edward being in Hong Kong and you being here nobody's there to entertain Emmett. Of course there's Rose, but knowing how much you approve of their relationship that's probably a reason for you to wake up even sooner," I chuckled lightly.

"I'm sorry you're in here Jasper and I know it's all my fault. I should have somehow told you that I spent the night at Edward's place and not at my own, then you wouldn't have felt the need to go to the apartment immediately and all this wouldn't have happened," I said, resting my head in my hands in guilt.

"Bella?" A soft voice asked. I turned around and saw Esme standing in the doorway.

"Carlisle told me that it's time for you to leave now as visiting hours basically ended about an hour ago and he can't make any further excuses for you," Esme said, smiling at me warmly.

"Thank you Esme. I'll see you tomorrow big brother. I love you," I said turning from Esme to Jasper and kissing his forehead, just the way he had always done when we were kids and I was afraid of something.

"You are really close, aren't you?" Esme asked when we left the room and walked in the general direction of the exit.

"Yeah. Rose and Jasper have always been my best friends and once my parents died we became even closer. We truly are like siblings," was my answer.

"Emmett told me a lot about the relationship between you and your cousins before, but I never believed something like that was possible. I guess you proved me wrong today," she laughed softly and I smiled at her.

"Bella, I was wondering if you'd mind having dinner with me today?" Esme asked me suddenly.

"I would love to Esme," I answered surprised. Esme smiled at me brilliantly and lead me towards her car. It was a black Audi S5. I felt my jaw drop when I saw it and Esme chuckled.

"It was a present from Carlisle for my last birthday. He loves German cars," Esme explained.

"Then Carlisle and I have something in common. I don't know much about cars in general, but from the whole outer appearance the German cars, especially Audis, are my favorites," I said as Esme and I got inside.

"So, where do you want to go for dinner, Bella?" Esme asked.

"Edward showed me this cute little restaurant not too far from Discovery Park. It's called La Bella Italia. It's a really nice place, do you know it?" I asked.

"No, but I think Edward mentioned it once or twice when he was over for dinner at our house," Esme answered thoughtful.

"It belongs to some old friends of Edward's parents. They are really nice, but I have to warn you! If we go there, watch out for Francesco, he's a huge flirt," I laughed and Esme joined in. Once we had calmed down we agreed to go there because Esme wanted to 'check Francesco out'. I really had to laugh at that and could only imagine how Emmett would have groaned if he had heard his mother saying that. After about thirty minutes we arrived in front of the little restaurant and went inside. I could see that Esme really liked it as she looked around with an affectionate expression on her face.

"Bella!" An excited voice exclaimed and I turned to see Francesco hurrying towards me.

"Ciao Francesco," I said, greeting him in Italian. That was also about everything I could say in Italian.

"Ciao Bella! How are you? Where is Edward?" He asked looking around, apparently thinking Edward would be with me.

"I'm fine Francesco, thank you. How are you? Edward's not with me tonight, he's in Hong Kong right now."

"Well, at least you are here. And who is this beautiful lady accompanying you?" He asked and reached out to take Esme's hand and kissed her knuckles. I had to stifle a giggle when I saw Esme blush.

"This is Esme Francesco, the wife of Edward's boss," was my answer.

"Ooooooh, so this is the famous Mrs. Cullen! Edward has told me so much about you," he said winking at Esme which made her giggle.

"FRANCESCO!" Someone roared from the kitchen and made him jump.

I turned around and saw Giulia leaning in the doorway to the kitchen with her arms crossed, looking at her husband with raised eyebrows.

"Ah, Giulia, you startled me. I was just welcoming young Bella here. She came without Edward this time, though," he said, smiling at her angelically, trying to distract her. Giulia looked over at me then and her serious expression was replaced by a gentle smile.

"Bella," she exclaimed and came over to hug me. "You came back. It is so good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine Giulia, thank you. As Edward is in Hong Kong right now I had to go a whole week without excellent Italian food and so I decided to come here tonight. He's an amazing cook and I can only guess who taught him how to cook like that," I said smiling at Giulia who blushed at my compliment.

"Thank you, Bella. Do you want to sit at Edward's usual table? The one in the quiet corner with Francesco's mother's painting hanging on the wall above it?" She asked, smiling at me softly.

"I would love to sit there," was my answer and I returned her smile. After that she was leading Esme and me to our table much to Francesco's dismay.

"I have to apologize for Francesco. He's especially flirty tonight. If he bothers you don't hesitate to call me," she said and left.

"Okay, I see you were not exaggerating when you said he was a 'huge flirt'," Esme giggled and I laughed at her girlish attitude.

"But please don't tell Carlisle anything about that or I'll never be allowed to go out with you again," she added with a wink.

"My lips are sealed Esme," I laughed.

After a very flirty Francesco came over and took our order we talked a little bit about her family, Emmett especially.

"I really have to thank you Bella," Esme suddenly offered unexpectedly.

"Uhm, you're welcome, but what for Esme?" I asked confused.

"Emmett always wished to have a little sister, but after him Carlisle and I were never able to conceive again. I was really sad that I couldn't fulfill Emmett's biggest wish, but now that I see that he has you, the little sister he always wished for, I'm happier than you can possibly imagine. My heart was about to explode with joy when I heard him call you 'little sister' today at the hospital," Esme explained with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, Emmett has always been a kind of brother for me, making me laugh all the time and protecting me from all the bullies at school. You have no idea how scared they all were of Emmett," I answered, laughing at the memory of their shocked faces when an enraged Emmett came to save me.

"Scared? Of Emmett? We _are_ talking about the same man, aren't we? Cause the Emmett I know is a huge softie," Esme laughed.

"Yeah, I know that, but most people were just intimidated by his appearance. I mean, he truly is _huge_ and if I didn't know that he is about as dangerous as a teddy bear I would be scared of him as well," I said.

"Yeah, I always wondered where he got that from as neither Carlisle nor I are like that at all," Esme mused.

"Well, Emmett is just one of a kind," I laughed and Esme agreed with me laughing hard.

We continued talking for hours and decided to go home around midnight. Esme offered to drive me home and I gladly accepted. I really wasn't in the mood for walking home. Some people might call me paranoid, but I never liked being outside alone at night and especially since the break-in last night that feeling only increased.

"Bella, where am I supposed to take you? I mean, you don't really want to go back to your apartment, do you? Those burglars could come back anytime," Esme asked me worriedly.

"No, no, Esme, I'm not going back there. Just take me to the Four Seasons, please," I answered.

"The Four Seasons?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay at Edward's apartment."

"Oh! Yes, I think that's safe enough and knowing Edward he probably committed the whole staff there to keep an eye on you and make sure you'll be alright," she laughed.

"As a matter of fact, that's exactly what he did," I grumbled in response. Esme stopped laughing and looked at me surprised.

"He did?" She asked.

"Yeah," I grumbled again.

"I was actually joking when I said that. I can't believe he really did that. It's really embarrassing, isn't it? I remember Carlisle doing the same thing at the beginning of our relationship," Esme mused.

"Yeah, it is. Every time I walk inside the building Geoffrey wants to know how I am and if everything is alright. Edward even told him to call me and make sure I'm okay if I don't show up in the lobby."

"Don't be angry Bella. Can't you understand why Edward did all this?"

"No, it's absolutely unnecessary."

"No, it's not. He cares about you deeply, Bella. I would even go as far and say he's in love with you. He just wants to protect you, make sure you're safe. I can imagine that he was absolutely pissed when he heard he had to leave Seattle. He doesn't want you to be alone and unprotected," Esme said softly. I was shocked when she said Edward was in love with me. I knew that I was in love with him, but did he really feel the same about me? I realized that this between us was probably more than just a game for him, but I couldn't believe he felt as strongly about us as I did.

"I think it's a bit early to talk about love in our case," was my answer.

"Why would you think that?" Esme asked.

"Esme, we know each other for a little over a week now, that's just too early," I said, knowing that it wasn't too early for me, but definitely for him.

"Why? Carlisle confessed his love for me right the day after we met and then we got married a few weeks later. As you can see we're still happy and in love like on the first day," Esme said softly.

"Yeah, that might have worked for you and Carlisle, but-"

"No buts, Bella! Tell me the truth, how do you feel about him?" Esme interrupted me.

"I like him," I mumbled.

"But that's not all."

"W-What do you mean?" I asked nervously. Does she know? Was it so obvious that I fell in love with Edward?

"I know you love him and so do you," she answered smugly.

"I-I don't know what you mean," I stammered.

"Yes, you do Bella. Be honest with yourself, take a deep breath and tell me what you truly feel when you see him, hear him or think about him."

I did as she said and closed my eyes.

"I love him," I whispered.

"There you go. Saying it out loud is the first step to really accept it. You love him and now the only question is if he loves you."

"Yeah, knowing the answer to that would help me quite a bit," I mumbled. Esme only smiled and the rest of the drive was spent in silence.

"Here we are Bella, the Four Seasons. Have a nice night," Esme said when we were there and I got out of the car.

"You, too, Esme," I answered and walked into building.

"Good evening Ms Swan," Geoffrey called as I entered the lobby and beckoned for me to come over to him.

"Good evening Geoffrey. What is it?" I asked when I reached the desk.

"I was wondering if you could take Mr. Masen's mail up to the apartment with you?"

"Of course, that won't be a problem," I smiled at him.

"Thank you. Oh yes, Mr. Masen called to let you know that he will take an earlier flight and already arrive at Sea-Tac airport at 8 p.m., instead of 10 p.m.."

"Really? That's great! Thank you, Geoffrey. Have a nice night," I said, walking away smiling.

"You're welcome Ms Swan. Have a nice night, too," he said, smiling as well.

Once I reached Edward's apartment I noticed how incredibly tired I was. The whole day was very exhausting. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth quickly, put Edward's shirt on once again and then went over to the bedroom and slumped onto the bed. It didn't take long and I was fast asleep.

When I woke up the next day I was surprised that I didn't have any nightmares. Normally when something terrible such as Jasper's accident happened I had the most horrifying nightmares, but not that night. I suspected it had something to do with Edward. Whenever I was with him I felt unusually calm and apparently his apartment had a similar effect on me. Only being here, where _he_ lived, kept the nightmares away.

I didn't get up immediately that morning, but decided to stay in bed for a little while longer to relax. I snuggled into the blanket and looked out of the window watching the ships go by on the water.

All in all I had a very peaceful morning, watching ships and finally having breakfast without any interruption. After I was done with breakfast, I decided to go to the hospital and check on Jasper once again. Maybe my aunt would be there, so I could apologize for scaring her yesterday. I still felt bad that she had to witness that.

When I left for the hospital I greeted Geoffrey down in the hall and went outside to get a taxi. Once I arrived at the hospital I saw that there was a different woman sitting at the front desk. I sighed in relief, not yet ready for another encounter with Victoria.

"Happy not to see Victoria again?" A voice asked me and I jumped. I turned around startled and looked into the amused face of none other than Carlisle.

"Gosh, Carlisle, did you want to give me a heart attack? Never startle me like that again," I breathed, placing my hand on my chest over my rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry, Bella," Carlisle chuckled.

"It's okay and to answer your question from before, yes, I am glad not to see that woman again. I was really close to punching her yesterday," I grumbled and Carlisle's expression suddenly turned serious.

"I'm really sorry about that. This wasn't the first time something like that happened. Believe me, I was furious with Victoria and could finally persuade the board to take action," he said.

"What did they do?" I asked.

"I don't know, but she's not here today, so they either put her on leave or fired her," he said and I nodded. I didn't really pity her, she was just too unfriendly and haughty yesterday.

I found out then that Carlisle was on his way to visit Jasper either and so we went there together once again, only this time the atmosphere between us wasn't as tense as the day before. We were both very positive about Jasper getting better soon.

When we walked through the door to Jasper's room I was immediately tackled by my aunt who wrapped her arms around me and started to cry.

"I'm so sorry Bella. I should have been there, I should have stayed, but it was too much. Please, please forgive me," she pleaded with me. I hugged her back tightly.

"Of course, Lillian, I wish you hadn't seen that. I know that it must have been horrible for you," I said.

After my aunt released me I looked up and saw that everyone was there; Lillian, Richard, Rose, Emmett, Esme, Carlisle and Alice. I looked at Jasper then and saw that he still hadn't woken up. I must have looked very worried as Carlisle started to reassure me immediately.

"Jasper's injuries were very severe. It's usual for patients like him to stay unconscious longer than others."

I nodded and looked at Alice then who looked very exhausted.

"Alice, you look like crap. Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked.

"Thanks for the compliment, Bella. And no, I hardly slept at all," she answered laughing lightly.

I stayed there for a few hours together with the others. We talked about anything and everything.

"Hey, does anyone know what time it is?" I asked at one point.

"Yeah it's 6.45 p.m.," was Emmett's answer and I started smiling. Only thirty minutes left until I have to leave for the airport to pick Edward up.

"What's with the smile, Bellsy?" Emmett asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said, still grinning like an idiot. Of course I didn't fool them.

"Seriously Bella, what's up?" Emmett asked curiously.

"I have to leave in thirty minutes," I answered.

"Why?" Rose asked this time.

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that my COO decided to take an earlier flight back from Hong Kong?" Carlisle asked with a smile.

"Most likely," I answered, smiling broadly.

"Eddie's coming home early?" Emmett asked.

"Yep, I'll pick him up."

"Cool, can I come with you?" Emmett asked enthusiastically. I felt my face fall a bit, but managed to keep my smile in place. I wanted to be alone with Edward and that was practically impossible if Emmett came along, but still, I couldn't say no to him. Just as I wanted to answer, Rose decided to speak.

"Emmett, I think it would be better if you didn't go with Bella."

"She's right, Emmett," Esme agreed and Emmett pouted.

"Why?" He whined.

"Emmett, I think Edward would prefer to be alone with Bella tonight," Carlisle answered.

"Oh!" Emmett said and it looked like he just had an epiphany. His expression though changed almost instantly into an evil one.

"Ooooooh, seems like Bella wants to get some tonight, huh?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows the way he always does when he teases someone.

"EMMETT!" Rose, Esme and Carlisle screamed instantly. Esme was standing close to Emmett and smacked the back of his head hard.

"Ow! That hurt Mom!" He whined. Esme glared at him which made him shut up instantly.

"Seriously Emmett, do you have to tease Bella about that all the time? It's probably smarter to wait anyway," Rose said and shrugged her shoulders. Emmett's jaw dropped.

"But Rosie, do you want to say that you regret having sex with me?" Emmett asked.

"Okay, this is my cue to leave. I really don't want to know anything about my daughter's sex life," Uncle Richard said and walked outside while glaring at Emmett. At least now we knew where Jasper got his protectiveness from.

"Sometimes I do Emmett, I really do," Rose said and Emmett was about to respond when I decided to leave either.

"Okay, I think it's time for me to go either. See you," I said as I walked out the door.

"See you Bella," They said.

"Have fun getting laid by Eddie tonight," Emmett exclaimed and the next second I heard another smack that signaled that Esme had once again hit Emmett.

"Thanks Esme," I called from outside the door, giggling quietly.

"You're very welcome Bella," she called back and I left the hospital, still giggling. Esme's and Emmett's relationship was just too funny. Still, she was exactly the kind of mother a guy like Emmett needed.

I went back to Edward's apartment then and changed into some very nice looking clothes Alice gave me a while ago and left again right after I was done dressing up a bit. I was very excited to see Edward again. I really missed him a lot.

Once I arrived at Sea-Tac airport I immediately looked up at the huge monitor showing which planes had already landed and which planes were still to come. I saw that Edward's flight would land in about five minutes and went to the door that led to the arrivals hall. There were already a lot people there waiting for relatives and friends and I was afraid I wouldn't see Edward in this huge crowd.

The crowd was getting bigger by the minute and I felt more and more lost. I started to feel a weird sense of claustrophobia as people started pushing me around. I heard a few people talking about Hong Kong and so I knew that Edward's plane had already landed and that he was most likely already somewhere here in this crowd, but I simply couldn't find him. People kept pushing me around and at one point someone shoved me so hard that I lost my balance. I already saw myself lying on the ground, however, I was caught by strong arms before I could hit the floor.

"Are you alright Miss?" A velvety voice asked and I immediately knew who it was. I spun around quickly and looked into Edward's beautiful green eyes. He apparently hadn't recognized me at first, but now he was smiling broadly and his eyes started to sparkle.

"Now that you are here I am more than alright," I said and pulled his lips to mine. It was the first time I kissed him since I found out that I was in love with him. I tried to put all my love and longing for him into that kiss and he responded eagerly. Our kiss grew more and more heated, but at some point we had to break away from each other because we needed to breathe. However, our foreheads still touched and our eyes stayed closed.

"Bella," Edward whispered and kissed my nose. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

"I think I do. I missed you, too. So incredibly much," I whispered back.

We continued standing there for a few more minutes until new people started pushing us and I was about to fall again if Edward hadn't caught me once more.

"Come on, let's go to the car," Edward said and put one arm around my waist to protect me from falling again while pushing the cart carrying his suitcases with the other. On the whole way to the car Edward didn't let go of my waist once and from time to time I felt him kissing the top of my head. When we arrived at the silver Volvo Edward opened the trunk and put his suitcases in while I went to sit inside the car. Edward joined me a few minutes later and started the car. Once we were out of the parking garage Edward reached for my hand and kissed it.

"I missed you so much," he said once more and I only nodded while squeezing his hand. He didn't release my hand for the rest of the drive. We didn't talk much, words would have only ruined the moment.

When we arrived at the hotel a few employees immediately came over to take Edward's suitcases and bring them up to his apartment. Edward put his arm around my waist once again and led me inside. We quickly greeted Geoffrey who smiled at us and then went up to his apartment.

Once we were inside and Edward's suitcases were brought up Edward started to kiss me again, only this time his kisses showed a hunger I had only experienced once before. He pushed me up against the wall and I wrapped my legs around his waist while his lips attacked mine hungrily.

"Oh Edward," I breathed when his lips moved from my mouth to my neck and collarbone.

"Bella," he whispered against my skin and I shivered at the reverence in his voice. "You are so beautiful."

He continued to kiss me like that for a few more minutes before he pulled back and sat me back down on my feet.

"Sorry, I lost control there for a second," he whispered and caressed my cheek.

"Don't be, it's okay," I answered while leaning my face into his hand.

He smiled at me and left his hand at my cheek when he suddenly started yawning.

"Jet lagged?" I asked smiling.

"Yeah, but I don't want to go to bed yet. I want to stay with you," he said, looking at me intently.

"Well, do you mind if I stay here for the night?" I asked and his face lit up instantly.

"Of course not, I'd love to have you here," he said happily.

"Good cause I have nowhere else to go at the moment."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"You remember when I was all alone and decided to spend the night here?" I asked and he nodded. "Well, apparently some burglars broke into our apartment and destroyed it completely shortly after I had left. The police said I was lucky that I wasn't there when they came cause they seemed to be ruthless and would have probably hurt me." Edward's expression turned very serious for a second and he hugged me tightly before he answered.

"You are not going back there. Ever." He stated firmly.

"What?" I asked surprised.

"It's not safe there. If these people could get in once they could get in again. I won't let you live there for another second."

"But where am I supposed to live?" I asked. I didn't want to argue with him.

"You'll stay with me. If you don't want to I'll search for a new apartment for you, but you won't go back there," he said firmly and looked at me very seriously.

"Can we talk about this some other time? Right now I just want to enjoy my time with you?" I sighed and he smiled once again. However a second later he yawned again.

"Come on, let's get ready for bed. We can talk some more there," I said and we both got ready for bed.

Once we were done we went to the bed and lay down. I immediately cuddled into Edward's side, lay my head on his chest right above his heart and listened to his strong heart beat while I breathed in his wonderful scent. He put his arms around me protectively and buried his face in my hair.

"Bella?" He asked after a while.

"Hm?"

"Would you like to accompany me on my next trip?" He asked. I was too shocked to respond immediately which apparently made him insecure.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I missed you so much and don't want to be without you again," he said nervously. I lifted my head and looked into his anxious face and smiled.

"I would love to," I whispered and kissed him.

"Thank you," he breathed in between kisses.

After that I lay my head on his chest again and he started humming a soft, beautiful melody into my ear. We didn't talk again that night, we just held each other and enjoyed each other's company. At some point I fell asleep in Edward's arms and heard a soft, velvety voice whispering. I wasn't sure whether I was dreaming or not, but what he said made my heart melt.

"I love you, Bella."


	15. Together

**Together**

The next day I woke up to something tickling my nose. I grimaced and grumbled under my breath while I turned my head around, so it would stop. I sighed when I noticed that it was gone and decided to go back to sleep. A few seconds later, though, I was tickled again and groaned loudly. That was when I heard someone chuckling quietly and remembered where I was.

"You know, right now I really hate you, Edward," I grumbled, still resting my head on his chest. I felt it vibrate with silent laughter, turned my face in his direction and opened my eyes slowly, still tired. He was smiling crookedly at me and held a strand of my hair between the thumb and index finger of his right hand. Apparently that was what he was tickling me with.

"Are you going to say something like 'I'm sorry that I woke you Bella, I'm a jerk' or are you just going to continue smiling at me?" I grumbled. He didn't say anything, but his smile widened.

"That's what I thought," I mumbled and turned my whole body around so that my back was facing him. "I'll just go back to sleep. Goodnight Edward."

Suddenly the bed moved and I felt him press his chest against my back while he wrapped one of his arms around my waist.

"Bella," he whispered in my ear and I shuddered, feeling his breath on my neck. "It's time to wake up," he added and kissed my neck.

"Edward, it's Saturday for crying out loud! There is absolutely no reason to get up yet," I mumbled, enjoying how he caressed my neck with his lips.

"But it's already 11.30, Bella," he whispered in my ear once again and another shudder ran down my spine.

"But I don't want to. Just go back to sleep Edward. You're supposed to be jet lagged anyway, so just close your eyes and try to sleep," I whined, but he just continued kissing me which made sleeping practically impossible.

"Okay, I'll get up," I groaned after a few more minutes and Edward laughed.

"You're really not a morning person, are you?" He asked when I turned around to face him.

"No, absolutely not. So, tell me, why exactly do I need to get up yet?" I whined.

"Because I wanted to talk to you. I'm already up since 8 o'clock this morning."

"You're already up since 8? What did you do the whole time?" I asked surprised.

"I was watching you. It was very interesting. Did you know that you talk in your sleep?" He asked me with a smile. I groaned and buried my head in the pillow, knowing my cheeks would be a deep shade of red.

"What did you hear?" I groaned, but my voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Bella?" Edward asked and nudged my head softly. "Look at me Bella."

I turned my head slightly and saw that his head rested on the pillow right next to my face and that he was staring at me intently. He reached out and stroked my blushing cheek and smiled softly.

"It was nothing bad. At first I was disturbed when you said Emmett's name, but then you said something about 'best big brother ever' and 'teddy bear' and I knew that you weren't thinking about Emmett in _that_ way," he explained in a soft voice.

"Why would it bother you if I thought about Emmett that way?" I asked and his face turned serious.

"It would bother me because I care for you, in more than just a platonic way."

The intensity of his gaze made me blush and I averted my eyes from his. He, however, wouldn't have that and reached out for my chin and turned my face towards him.

"I care about you, too, Edward," I whispered. His eyes never left mine when he leaned in and kissed my lips chastely. When he pulled away his right hand began to stroke my cheek and he smiled at me softly.

"I'll take you out tonight, Bella," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Okay," I whispered in response and nodded.

After that we got ready for the day and had breakfast. It was good to talk to him again. I really missed that. When I told him about Jasper's punishment in detail he cracked up. Of course, he had seen the video, but he didn't know what happened after we left the club, our very entertaining – for Jasper very humiliating – conversation in the car for example. Talking about Jasper reminded us both that not everything in our lives was perfect at the moment. Jasper still hadn't woken up and we were both very worried by that fact, even though Carlisle said that sleeping this long was normal for people in Jasper's condition. We decided to spend the afternoon at the hospital with Jasper and, as we guessed, everybody else because Edward really wanted to see his best friend and I really wanted to see my brother.

"I hope he's waking up soon," I whispered when we pulled into the parking lot at the hospital.

"Bella, I'm sure he'll wake up soon," Edward reassured me and gave my hand a tender squeeze.

"I just feel so guilty. If it wasn't for me Jasper would have been home that morning instead of being in the car."

"What do you mean?" Edward asked confused. I totally forgot that I hadn't told him about the reason Jasper was in the car that morning. I was scared to tell him because I thought he would be angry with me, so I stayed silent first, but of course Edward noticed my discomfort and persuaded me to tell him what was going on.

"The management of our apartment building called both Jasper and Emmett the morning after the break-in and told them about it. Emmett and Jasper then decided to drive to the apartment and meet there to see if I was in any way hurt or something as they haven't heard anything from me. I didn't tell anybody that I stayed at your place." I looked at him then uncertainly, fearing his reaction. However his face didn't portrait any kind of angry emotion, so I continued. "On the way to the apartment a truck on the other side of the road got out of control and hit Jasper's car, basically it was the same kind of accident my parents had, only that Jasper survived," I finished quietly.

"I'm sorry Bella, that must have been horrible for you. I wonder why Emmett didn't tell me that," he said quietly.

"He didn't want to worry you further. He already thought you were going crazy when you heard about my panic attack and Jasper's accident and, I guess so he thought not telling you the details would be better."

"Yeah, probably. If I had known that I would have come home instantly."

"And that's exactly what Emmett didn't want because he knew that I would be fine again soon and Jasper wouldn't be awake for a few days. You know, sometimes I really think we should give Emmett more credit. It is really shocking to say that, but Emmett really is considerate and thinks along," I said in disbelieve which made Edward laugh.

"Yeah, it really is shocking. But then again, he can't be as stupid as he'd like us to think cause he went to Harvard and I don't know what you Columbia people think about that, but I see that as a sign that somebody is very smart," Edward said teasingly and I punched his arm playfully in response.

"Stupid, smart-aleck Harvard graduates," I mumbled which made Edward laugh once again. We had reached the entrance hall by that point.

"It's nice to hear people laughing in the hospital for a change. Mostly they're all just very sullen and sad," we heard somebody chuckle behind us and turned around to see Carlisle leaning in the doorway that lead to one of the examination rooms.

"You know Carlisle, you're really creeping me out. It's like you're waiting here for me every time I come here," I laughed and so did Carlisle. Edward just looked at me and Carlisle with a confused expression on his face.

"Maybe I do Bella," Carlisle said in a voice that was supposed to be eerie, but only made me laugh harder, and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh my god, you looked so much like Emmett a moment ago when you wiggled your eyebrows! And I thought he inherited his teasing nature from his Mom, but I guess I was wrong. Coming to think of it, he probably got his strength from Esme. I mean, the way she smacked him yesterday looked really painful," I giggled and Carlisle laughed. This time even Edward cracked a smile, but he still looked confused.

"You two seem to get along really well?" Edward said and it sounded more like a question.

"Yeah, isn't it obvious for a father and a daughter to get along?" Carlisle said and Edward looked even more confused.

"Father and daughter?" He asked.

"Yes, Bella was adopted into our family yesterday by Emmett calling her 'little sister' and Esme is really smitten with her, too," Carlisle said.

"She probably just wanted to have another female in the family which is really understandable if you think about what kind of men she has to bear every day," I teased him.

"Probably. So Edward, watch out, you're dating a Cullen now," Carlisle laughed and patted Edward's back fatherly. Edward smiled brilliantly.

"Hmmm, Bella Cullen. I like it!" I exclaimed which made Carlisle laugh. After that Carlisle accompanied us to Jasper's room once again to check on him. When I was about to enter the door Edward suddenly held me back and brought his lips to my ear.

"You like Bella Cullen, huh? To be honest, Bella Masen would sound a lot better," he breathed in my ear and I shuddered, feeling his breath on my neck.

Edward let go of me then and walked inside the room, looking back over his shoulder once to give me a sly smile.

"Aren't you coming inside, Bella?" Edward asked me innocently when I didn't move at all for a few seconds. I snapped out of my daze and glared at him while I entered the room. Surprisingly no one apart from Edward, Carlisle and me was there.

"Well, Masen, in case you forgot, I'm still single. Don't you think that I should have a boyfriend first, before I start thinking about marriage? But now that you've mentioned it, I should probably go out tonight and look for a guy in one of the clubs here. I heard the guys here in Seattle are supposed to be really hot," I teased him in a serious voice after I had taken him aside. Edward looked absolutely livid when I mentioned being single and looking for a boyfriend. I left him standing in the corner without a backward glance and walked towards Jasper's bed. I sat down in the chair next to the bed and took Jasper's hand in mine.

"How is he Carlisle?" I asked and looked at Carlisle who was still smiling slightly at the exchange between Edward and me.

"Everything looks great so far, there's only one thing that does not fit," Carlisle answered while looking at Jasper's charts.

"Please don't tell anyone else, Bella. I wouldn't want to worry them unnecessarily," he said and I nodded.

"Jasper's sleeping a bit longer than usual for patients like him. He actually should have woken up yesterday."

"Does that mean he's in danger?" I asked panicked.

"No. It just means that his body needs a longer period of time to recover. Still, I never thought that would be the case with a guy like Jasper. He always looked pretty tough and resistant."

"So, he'll be okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure he'll be okay," Carlisle said and then excused himself when his beeper went off.

After Carlisle had left I noticed that Edward was still standing in the corner of the room, just where I left him. I looked up at him and saw that he had his arms crossed over his chest and that he had a hard expression on his face. He didn't move at all and his eyes never left me.

"Are you okay, Edward?" I asked, but he didn't answer. I looked at him for a few more seconds and when I saw that he didn't even consider answering my question I just shrugged and looked back at Jasper. I talked to Jasper for a bit, told him what had been going on while he was in here and how we all missed him. Of course, I noticed Edward watching me the whole time and after a while I was really annoyed and couldn't help myself and told him what I thought about his reaction to me teasing him a bit.

"You know, I actually thought you were here to see your best friend and not sulk in the corner over there. Seriously, get a grip and act your age. I feel like I'm here with a five-year-old," I snapped at him. Edward's expression was no longer impassive, but surprised at my outburst. Still, he didn't move or speak at all which made me angrier.

"Fine, just continue standing there. I'll be down in the cafeteria, maybe then you'll finally be able to help your best friend," I shouted at him and stormed out of the room. I knew that maybe I overreacted a bit, but in that second I wasn't really thinking rational, I was just too angry for that.

When I entered the cafeteria I went and got myself a cup of hot chocolate as that always calmed me down when I was a little kid. Once I had my cup I went to a deserted corner of the cafeteria and sat down at a table at the window with a beautiful view over Seattle. I thought back to what just happened and asked myself why Edward reacted so strongly to my little teasing comment. It's not like I was lying; officially Edward and I weren't dating and I was single. Of course talking about looking for another guy was probably a low blow, but so was talking about getting married.

I continued thinking about all the possible meanings behind our statements for a while until I heard someone sit down next to me.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and looked at me with a pained expression that made my heart break.

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted a bit up there. I had no right to scream at you like that," I answered and smiled at him.

"Neither did I have any right to treat you the way I did up there," he whispered. "Can we please talk about this somewhere else? I don't think a hospital cafeteria is an appropriate place for what I have to say," he added and I agreed.

A few minutes later we were back in the car an Edward was driving us through the heavy Seattle traffic. We didn't talk, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. We both knew that we had overreacted and I expected us to discuss our issues somewhere we could be alone and wouldn't be interrupted. Despite our argument in the hospital Edward was holding my hand and I liked it. This was another sign for me that we would be okay. Everybody fights now and then.

I don't know where I expected we were going, but I definitely didn't expect us to go to Discovery Park. My face must have portrayed my surprise as Edward chuckled next to me.

"I thought this place here was fitting. The day we met here was the first day we actually were alone together for a longer period of time," he explained and I nodded, smiling.

Of course, we went to that part of the beach where he had found me on said day. We sat down in the sand facing each other and Edward took my hands in his.

"Bella, I'm really ashamed of my reaction today in the hospital and I want you to fully understand why I reacted the way I did. At first I was incredibly jealous when you said you liked the sound of 'Bella Cullen'," he said and I looked at him confused and was about to interrupt when he held his hand up. "Please let me explain," he said and I nodded.

"It was a very irrational response because I knew you were just joking, but still just the thought of you taking someone else's name and not mine one day drove me insane. I didn't say anything then because I realized that my reaction to this was just stupid, but all the same I decided to tease you a bit. I hoped that when I said that 'Bella Masen' sounded a lot better than 'Bella Cullen' I would get some kind of flustered reaction from you which I did and I can't deny that I was happy to see that I had that kind of effect on you." He smiled and I punched him playfully. His smile vanished instantly when he continued his explanation.

"What I didn't expect was you teasing me back. When you said you were single and looking for another man all the jealousy was back and I was disappointed in you. Again, my reaction was irrational because you were just joking. Jealousy is a very strange feeling. Even when you talked to Carlisle and joked with him I felt a pang of jealousy cause another man made you laugh. As I said, it's weird cause I _know_ that Carlisle would never be unfaithful to Esme," he said and hung his head in shame. I saw my chance and asked him something I was very curious about.

"You said you were disappointed in me. Why?"

"When you said you were looking for someone else I thought about all the time we spent together and couldn't believe that all that meant nothing to you. I was disappointed cause I thought you were just playing with me and that you would throw me away as soon as you found a new toy. That was exactly what I did before I met you and I was scared that all the heartbreak I saw the girls I was with go through would happen to me either. Of course, I know you are not like that Bella, but as I said before jealousy is irrational, it's impossible to explain it. I'm generally not a violent person, Bella, but today I actually thought of ripping Carlisle's head off," he answered, still very ashamed.

"You might not believe me, but I understand," I said and he looked up surprised. "Do you remember the day you told me about that girl you dated at college who introduced you to 'A Walk to Remember'?" I asked and he nodded. "I was so scared that there was another woman in your life and that you were just playing with me. My heart dropped and I was incredibly sad until you told me the truth."

"That's why you wanted to know who the girl was then. I understand now. I was confused by the panic in your voice back then," he answered, deep in thought. We sat in silence for a few minutes before Edward broke it.

"Bella, when I met you I promised myself that I would always be honest with you, that I would never hide anything or lie to you and I intent to keep that promise. Isabella, I want to be with you, I want you to be my girlfriend, I want this thing between us to become official and serious," he said and looked me straight in the eye.

"Do you want to be with me, Isabella?" He asked me in a whisper and him using my full name sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't think and felt my eyes widen. He wanted to be with me? _Me_?

I must have been silent for too long as Edward's face was suddenly pained and he looked away, apparently thinking that I didn't want to be with him.

"Yes," I whispered and his head whirled around to look at me.

"Yes," I said a bit louder and smiled. His answering smile was brilliant and faster than I thought possible his lips were on mine and I was lying in the sand, him on top of me, kissing me passionately.

"Thank you, Bella," he whispered against my lips and another shiver ran down my spine.

We stayed on the beach for some time, kissed each other over and over again and enjoyed the feeling of being together officially.

"You know, I don't think I was this happy for a very, very long time," I said and smiled at him. We were lying in the sand facing each other. His arm was wrapped around my waist protectively and he pulled me close to his body.

"I think the last time I was this happy was when I was seven years old and my parents gave me a bike for Christmas," Edward laughed and I joined in when I imagined little Edward dancing around the Christmas tree, jumping for joy.

"Speaking of parents, guess who called me yesterday!" I said cheerfully. Edward looked at me bewildered.

"Errm, no idea? Your aunt and uncle? They are like parents for you, aren't they?" He answered, still confused.

"Yes, they are, but they didn't call me," I said and laughed when I saw that Edward still didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

"I have to say your Mom reminds me a lot of Aunt Lillian and my mother. She's really enthusiastic," I said and laughed when I saw that he understood now.

"Oh god, she really did call you, didn't she? I'm so sorry. I told her not to do that," he mumbled, looking away.

"Oh, there's no need to apologize. Your Dad already did that," I laughed and Edward groaned.

"Jesus, even Dad talked to you. They must have been really curious."

"Yeah, he did, but only after he said something like 'Liz, you didn't really call her, did you?'," I said.

"Okay, this is really embarrassing. Did you at least like them?" He asked uncertainly.

"They sounded really, really nice, but I don't really want to judge them before I meet them, you know," I said and Edward exhaled loudly.

"Well, at least you still _want_ to meet them. I already dated girls that hated my Mom just for her very outgoing nature on the phone. You have to know, my Mom has this habit of calling all the girls I date before meeting them. Don't ask me why! I'm actually surprised she didn't call me yet to tell me what she thinks about you. Normally she does that," he laughed.

"I can really imagine that and I'd really love to meet her and your Dad one day."

"I think I really should invite them for Christmas like you said. Mom's probably dying to meet you either."

After continuing our conversation for a while we saw dark clouds on the horizon and decided to head home before the rain was coming. On our way to the car Edward had his arm around my shoulders and I had mine around his waist and although we had walked like this many times before this time it felt different. All the uncertainty about what was happening between us was gone and was replaced by pure happiness.


	16. The big deal

**The big deal**

The next few weeks passed and Edward and I got closer and closer, a fact I was really glad about. My life in general was very happy in that time as Jasper woke up only a day after Edward asked me to be his girlfriend. When he woke up only Edward and I were in the hospital once again, so once Jasper opened his eyes Edward called the rest of his family and friends while I was breaking down and apologized to Jasper over and over again with tears flowing down my cheeks. Of course he would have none of that.

"Bella, stop," Jasper suddenly said loudly. I had been apologizing to him for minutes now.

"But it's my fault you were hit by that truck," I said, feeling extremely guilty.

"No, it wasn't. If it's anybody's fault than it's the burglars'! If it weren't for them nothing would have happened. If you don't mind me asking, did they already find whoever broke into your apartment?" He asked, clearly trying to distract me.

"No. They have no clue. These burglars were professionals. They didn't leave any evidence of who they are," I said.

"Where were you anyway?" Jasper asked.

"Come again?" I asked, not understanding what he meant.

"You weren't in your apartment while they broke in, so where were you?"

"I felt uneasy in the apartment, so I left and stayed at Edward's place."

"But he wasn't home, was he?"

"No, he was still in Hong Kong, but I simply felt better there," was my answer and I shrugged.

Right then Edward came back into the room and told us that everybody else was on their way and would be here in a bit. Jasper immediately thanked Edward for giving me the keys to his place, so I was safe when the burglars came. Just like Edward Jasper refused to let any of us, Rose, Alice or me ever live in that apartment again and told us he would sell it as soon as possible. It was still his, so there was no point in arguing. Once all the others arrived Edward and I bid Jasper goodbye who was hugged tightly by a sobbing Alice, telling him that we would come back some other time. Jasper stroked Alice's back gently, trying to soothe her, and told us that that was okay. Jasper left the hospital about a week later.

It was already the beginning of December now and surprisingly there was no snow yet. I prayed every night that it would finally start because I wanted nothing more than a white Christmas. But there were still about three weeks left until Christmas, so still plenty of time. There was also plenty of time left to go Christmas shopping in my book, but apparently not in Alice's. She scheduled a shopping trip for her, Rose and me for the following Saturday, much to my dismay. I wanted to go out with Edward that day, we had already planned to spend some time outside of the city.

Also, I was dreading shopping because I still didn't have a job. Of course, I was still working at the coffee shop, but I wanted a _real_ job. I didn't go to Columbia to end up working in a coffee shop. Edward could tell something was wrong because I reacted defensive when we talked about spending money on Christmas gifts.

"Bella, what's wrong?" He asked one day. I looked at him and saw the concern written all over his face. I knew there was no way he would let this go, so I decided to tell him the truth. He didn't interrupt me when I told him about how I was very low on money at the moment and felt ashamed for not being able to buy proper gifts for all my friends. He told me that whatever I gave him would be fine and that he was sure that Alice and Rose were in the same predicament. Neither Alice nor Rose had found a job yet, too, but they still had their parents who gave them money if they needed some. Of course Lillian and Richard offered to help me as well, but they didn't earn that much and I didn't want them to waste all their money on me. They had already done enough for me.

Three days before our shopping trip - I was still living at Edward's apartment - I got a call that changed my whole financial situation within minutes. Edward answered the phone and handed it to me a few seconds later mouthing 'Esme' to me.

"Hey Esme," I said cheerfully. Although she was way older than me Esme had become one of my best friends over the past few weeks.

"Hey Bella! How are you?" Esme answered in the same voice.

"I'm fine, thank you, what about you? What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I'm fine, too, thank you. I was wondering if you wanted to meet me for a cup of coffee?"

"Sure! Where would you like to go?" I asked.

"Actually, I wanted to invite you over to our house. Apparently I'm not the only one who wants to talk to you," was her answer. I thought that maybe Emmett was there so I quickly agreed and grabbed my coat. I was only a few steps from the door when a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against a very hard, perfectly toned chest.

"And where do you think you are going, beautiful lady?" Edward whispered in my ear. I turned around in his arms, put my arms around his neck and looked up into his beautiful green eyes before I answered.

"Esme invited me to have a cup of coffee at her house."

"Hmmm, but what if I don't want you to go?" He asked, smiling at me.

"Well, then you will have to face Esme's wrath. You know, Emmett always says that nobody has ever smacked him as hard as his mother. Apart from Rose maybe." I smiled back and Edward's smile faltered a bit and he let go of me.

"Okay, I better not anger the wife of the boss," he said jokingly and kissed me tenderly while caressing my cheek. "Don't be out too long. You won't be with me on Saturday, so I at least want to spend as much time with you as possible during the week."

"I'll be back soon, I promise," I said and kissed him once again before I left.

Although Edward said that it was okay for me to use the Volvo I never actually did it. He loved that car and I really didn't want to be the one responsible for any possible damage, so I took a taxi as usual. I handed the driver the address, he nodded and took me to Medina where Carlisle and Esme lived.

Once I arrived there I was stunned by the building, it was huge. Esme and Carlisle's butler led me inside and told me to wait for Esme in the living room. The interior of the house was beautiful and you had a magnificent view over Lake Washington. They even had their own landing stage!

"Hello Bella," Esme greeted me and then came over to hug me, "I'm so glad you came."

"I'm glad, too, although it wasn't easy. Edward didn't want to let me go," I laughed and Esme smiled warmly.

We then sat down and the butler came back and served us coffee and cake. I wasn't really hungry, but when Esme told me she made the cake herself I just had to try it. It was delicious, of course. We talked about anything and everything until Carlisle joined us after about an hour.

"Ah, Bella, you are here! Good, I would like to talk to you about something. Would you mind accompanying me to my office?" Carlisle asked and when I looked at Esme she was smiling brilliantly and nodded, indicating me to go.

Once we reached Carlisle's office he closed the door behind me and told me to sit down on one of the couches in front of the fireplace. Carlisle's office reminded me of a library, there were huge bookshelves everywhere.

"Okay Bella, nobody, not even Edward, knows what I want to talk to you about, what I want to offer you," Carlisle started and I was surprised. He wanted to offer me something? He didn't tell Edward?

"Before I begin I just want to ask one question. Do you still work at the coffee shop?" He asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," was my answer.

"Good. Bella, what do you think about working for Cullen Enterprises?" He asked and looked at me expectantly. My eyes grew huge.

"Uhm, thanks Carlisle, but I studied Journalism and not Business Management or something like that," I answered.

"Oh, I know. But Bella, every company needs someone who is responsible for the press and I think that this would be the perfect job for you."

"What exactly would I have to do?" I asked.

"Well, you would be responsible for our public image for instance. You would be our Chief Communications Officer."

I was absolutely dumbstruck. Cullen Enterprises was one of America's biggest and most important companies and I just got offered a really high position in the company.

"B-But Carlisle, I have absolutely no experience," I stuttered.

"Oh, that's okay. Our current CCO is going to retire, but he promised me to teach you as much about the job as possible before he leaves. Don't be afraid, Bella, neither Emmett nor Jasper nor Edward had any experience before they started working for my company and now look at what they did! Cullen Enterprises wouldn't be where it is now without them."

"But they have MBAs! I have no clue about business!" Okay, that was a lie. I took some classes at Columbia about business, but not nearly enough.

"Well, I called an old friend of mine who works as a professor at Columbia and he sent me your file. As it seems you did take classes there and I think you know enough about business in general. Everything else you need to know you'll learn soon enough."

"Okay, but where would that leave me in the company? Who would be my boss?" I asked frantically.

"Oh, maybe I should tell you a bit about the positions first. I take it you know what all the different positions are responsible for?" I nodded. "Good, so you know that I own Cullen Enterprises, so I'm the CEO and Chairman of the board. You'll report directly to the CEO which makes me your only boss." I gulped and Carlisle laughed. "Relax Bella. It's not that bad. Anyway, just to make everything clear I'll tell you who the other important people in my company are. Emmett is our CFO. You won't believe it, but he's actually good at dealing with money." We both giggled. "Since Emmett's working for Cullen Enterprises our profit has actually doubled," he added incredulously which made me laugh really hard.

"Jasper is our CAO." I nodded. That figured. He studied Business Analyses after all.

"And last but not least there's Edward, our COO."

"So together, you, Emmett and Edward are the most important people in the company, right?" I asked.

"Exactly and I have no doubts that if you ever need help the guys would be happy to offer you some. So, what do you think Bella? Do you want to be our CCO?"

I didn't have to think about it for a long time. This was a once in a lifetime chance and if I ever needed help all of them would be there for me.

"Yes," I whispered and Carlisle's face lit up.

"Really?" He asked enthusiastically. Once again he reminded me of Emmett.

"Yes."

"That's awesome Bella! Can you come in tomorrow morning to sign your contract? This way you can start working or rather learning about your future position next Monday," he said happily.

"Of course, I'll be there. What time?"

"Come over at 11.30? Is that okay?" He asked after he checked his schedule for tomorrow.

"Yes, I'll be there," I said and Carlisle stood up and hugged me.

"I'm really happy you said yes Bella. I couldn't imagine somebody else for the position."

After that we left his office and went back to the living room where Esme was still sitting, drinking her coffee. When we entered she looked up and smiled.

"So? Did you take the job?" She asked and I nodded. Esme squealed and ran over to hug me.

"That's great Bella! You're perfect for the job!" She smiled.

I left the Cullen home shortly after that, still slightly dazed by the fact that I would have an extremely well paid job from Monday on.

When the taxi stopped in front of the Four Seasons I quickly paid the driver and went inside. Once I entered the elevator the nervousness kicked in. What am I supposed to tell Edward? Would he be happy about working with me? Or would he be absolutely against it? What would I do if he was?

The elevator stopped and I got up and walked towards the apartment. I still hadn't decided what to do when I went inside. I hung up my coat and went to the kitchen to get myself a nice big cup of hot chocolate. I calmed down slightly while drinking it.

"Hey! I didn't hear you coming inside. How was your time with Esme?" Edward asked, smiling and walking towards me. I didn't answer and he stopped a few feet from me and stared at my cup.

"Uh oh. Hot chocolate? What's wrong?"

Of course he already knew about my habit of drinking hot chocolate whenever I needed to calm myself or when something was bothering me. I didn't look at him when I answered.

"I got a job," was all I said.

"What? But that's great Bella! But then why are you drinking hot chocolate? And weren't you just with Esme? You didn't say anything about a job interview," Edward said and looked at me confused, but I still didn't look at him.

"Yes, I was with Esme and no, I didn't have a job interview. The job offer came very sudden."

"And you already agreed to it? But Bella, you have to think about that first! You can't just trust random people," Edward said incredulously.

"But I do trust them and they are not random people Edward," was my answer. There was absolutely no emotion in my voice. I just continued staring ahead of me.

"Dammit Bella! Look at me!" Edward said and grabbed my shoulders and made me look at him. "What if these people are just playing with you? Bella, I'm rather experienced in business and I know about people who would do exactly that. They just want your money, Bella," he told me in a hard voice while looking at me intently, willing me to understand what he was saying.

"I know that, but I trust Esme and Carlisle," I whispered in response, not meeting his eyes once again.

"Esme and Carlisle?" He asked surprised and his hands fell from shoulders. "What do they have to do with it?"

"I'm going to be the new CCO at Cullen Enterprises."

There was silence after my statement and it felt like minutes until Edward finally decided to speak again.

"Y-You are going to be our new CCO?" He asked and I nodded. He looked at me for a few more seconds and I grew very anxious.

Suddenly Edward grabbed me and twirled me around while kissing me.

"That's fantastic, Bella," he called happily and kissed me over and over and over again.

I was relieved. He was okay with it, he didn't have a problem with me working for Cullen Enterprises. I could take the new job without feeling guilty or bad about it. I was just so happy.

"You are really okay with that?" I asked after we had collapsed onto the couch, still laughing.

"Okay with that? This is awesome! You'll fit into our team perfectly," he said and looked at me intently. I smiled at him and kissed him chastely.

"You know what, we have to celebrate that," Edward exclaimed.

"Edward, I haven't even signed my contract yet," I protested.

"Yeah, but you'll do so tomorrow morning, right?" I nodded. "Good, so we'll go out tomorrow night and celebrate. Don't worry, it won't be a huge production. Just you, me, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme."

"I don't know. Won't it be weird to celebrate with your boss?" I asked.

"Bella, just because you sign that contract doesn't mean that your relationship towards Carlisle and Esme will change. It will be the same, just now you'll help them with their company. Actually, I bet Carlisle and Esme will be thrilled to celebrate with us," he answered confidently.

I knew that protesting against it was useless, so I gave in and Edward called everyone to invite them for tomorrow. He was right about Carlisle and Esme, they were absolutely thrilled about being invited. After that he called a restaurant and made reservations there. When I asked him which restaurant he just smiled, shook his head and told me that it was a surprise. I absolutely hated surprises.

The rest of the day Edward and I spent on the couch, cuddling, eating snacks, watching movies and simply enjoying our time together. We went to bed rather early as Edward had a hard day of work the following day. Although we were dating for weeks now, Edward and I didn't have sex yet and we didn't plan on changing that any time soon. I wasn't brought up to be very conservative and wait until marriage, but still I didn't want to have sex until I was one hundred per cent ready and sure about it. If I reached that state before I was married that would be fine, if I didn't, well, then Edward would have to wait. Luckily he didn't have a problem with that.

"What time are you meeting Carlisle tomorrow?" Edward asked once we were lying in bed, cuddling with each other.

"11.30, why?" I answered.

"Oh, that's too bad. I was hoping we could go to work together tomorrow morning."

"Oh, when do you have to leave?" I asked. He was already gone by the time I woke up every morning.

"Well I have to be at work at 8 a.m., so I'll leave the apartment at 7.30 a.m. tomorrow. When do you officially start working for Cullen Enterprises anyway?"

"I think Carlisle said that my first day will be next Monday," was my answer.

"Cool. Then we'll go to work together on Monday," he said, determination and pride evident in his voice. I laughed at his tone and he just stuck his tongue out at me which then made me laugh even harder.

"Why are you laughing at me? Can't a man be happy to see his girlfriend even more often than usual?" He whined and I continued laughing, but stroked his cheek.

"Of course you can be, but you just sounded like a little kid waiting for its Christmas presents. But you do know that this won't be as easy as you think, right?" I ended in a serious voice which made him thoughtful either.

"I suppose you are right. We definitely have to separate our private lives and our lives at work," he answered after a while.

"Yes, and if I ever mess up then don't hesitate and tell me. Don't try to put lipstick on the pig because you think the truth might hurt me."

"But I don't want to hurt you, Bella," he said, looking at me intently.

"I'm tougher than you think. Now, promise me to treat me like any other employee at Cullen Enterprises!"

"Does that also count for our lunch break?" He asked.

"No, we can be ourselves during lunch. Anyway, promise!"

"I promise I'll treat you like I treat all the other people at Cullen Enterprises and will never hesitate and tell you the truth when you mess up. Are you feeling better now?" He asked and smiled at me.

"A lot better," I smiled back and stifled a yawn, "God, this day was exhausting."

"Well, then we'd better sleep now, so you'll be well rested when you sign the big deal tomorrow," he smiled and I snorted.

"The big deal?" I asked while laughing.

"Yeah, that's what Emmett called it over the phone," he said, "Wow! Bella's gonna sign a big deal," he added in a poor imitation of Emmett's voice which made me laugh even harder.

"Edward?" I asked once we had calmed down.

"Hmm?" He answered sleepily.

"Will you wake me up when you leave tomorrow morning?"

"Why?"

"I just want to be able to say good morning to you once."

"Okay," he answered. After that I cuddled back into Edward's chest and listened to his heart beating. The steady drumming noise made me more and more sleepy and at some point I finally did drift off to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning Edward was already gone, but on his pillow lay a folded white sheet of paper with my name on it, so I took it and opened it.

_Dear Bella,_

_I'm sorry I didn't wake you up before I left this morning, but you looked so peaceful and I really didn't want to disturb your sleep. _

_I actually planned to surprise you and show up at Carlisle's office today, but unfortunately I can't make it. Stupid Russians. I have a phone conference with a client from Moscow. _

_I called Carlisle this morning and he told me you'll be done by noon, so what do you think about having lunch with me? My break lasts until two. Just send me a message if that's okay with you._

_Have fun signing 'the big deal',_

_Edward_

I sighed once I was done reading the letter. He was so cute and thoughtful. Of course I would love to go out and have lunch with him, so I quickly grabbed my phone from the bedside table and send him a quick reply to meet me in the lobby of the building at noon. When I was done with that I took a quick look at the clock.

9.30

Still two hours left until I'll meet Carlisle and about an hour left before I would leave the apartment. I decided to leave a bit earlier because I wanted to be in time in any case, it's always good to make a good impression on your boss.

Long story short, two hours later I was sitting in a chair in front of Carlisle's desk while we waited for his assistant to bring the papers.

"So Bella, are you already excited to start working here?" Carlisle asked with a kind smile.

"Yes, Edward reassured me that he'll always help me if I don't know what to do," I said.

"About Edward. I was thinking that you should accompany him on his next business trip if that's okay with you? Normally his assistant would go with him, but Tyler is afraid of flying."

"Oh, I would love to," I answered, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I think so will Edward," he laughed, "He told me you like Germany?"

"Oh yes, I do. I'm fluent in German actually," I answered proudly.

"Really? That's great cause he has to go to Munich on his next business trip. Have you ever been there before?"

"No. I've never left the U.S. to be honest."

Before Carlisle could say anything else there was a knock on the door and his assistant handed him the papers. He gave me time to read through everything and then handed me a pen to sign it. Just as I was about to sign the door burst open.

"STOP!" Emmett roared.

"Emmett!" Carlisle shouted. "What the hell?"

"You can't sign that without me! We have to record this," he said and waved his right hand in which he was holding a camera. Carlisle just buried his head in his hands and shook his head slightly at his son's stupidity before he told me to go on.

A few seconds and a lot flashes from the camera later I handed the papers back to Carlisle who took them and then stood and extended his hand. I took it and shook his hand.

"Welcome to Cullen Enterprises, Bella."

"Thank you Carlisle."

Emmett was still taking photo after photo.

"God, Emmett, it's enough! Don't you have work to do?" Carlisle said exasperated.

Emmett just grumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'thank me one day' before he turned and walked towards the door. In the doorway he paused and looked back at me.

"Bella? You might want to hurry. Edward's waiting down in the lobby and is surrounded by his fan club. You should go down there and save him from them." He winked and left.

When I entered the lobby a few minutes later I saw what Emmett was talking about. There he was surrounded by tons of women who tried to flirt with him and make him go out on a date with them. When I took a look at his face I saw that he was more than just a bit uncomfortable and had to stifle a laugh.

Edward caught my eye then and started to smile at me brilliantly. He shoved all those women aside and walked over to me. As soon as he reached me he pulled me into a hug and kissed me. I heard a lot of gasps and once we broke apart I looked back at all the women who were staring at us with their mouths wide open.

"But Eddie, I'm much prettier than her and my position in the company is higher than hers," a tall and very fake blond woman called and walked towards us until she stood right in front of us.

"I doubt that Lauren. May I introduce you to my girlfriend, our new CCO, Isabella Swan."

Once again I had a hard time to stop myself from laughing when I saw her face.

"Girlfriend? New CCO?" She screeched.

"Yes," was Edward's calm answer.

"But I was supposed to get that position," she continued to screech. I was not sure whether she was talking about the job or the part as girlfriend.

"No Lauren. Nobody actually thought about offering the job to you, you're too incompetent. Now if you'll excuse us, I would like to take my girlfriend out for lunch," Edward answered, took my hand in his and led me out of the building.

"So that's your fan club?" I asked, smiling at him.

"You met Emmett?" He groaned in response.

"Yep," I said happily.

"Yes, you have just met Cullen Enterprises' most annoying employee, Lauren Mallory."

"Will she be working with me?" I asked anxiously, not looking forward to spend a lot of time with her.

"No. I have no idea why she thought she'd get your job cause she's just one of the secretaries in Emmett's office," he said. Ah, so she _was_ talking about being Edward's girlfriend before.

Oh joy, I already have one enemy in the company.


	17. Nuclear bomb

**Nuclear bomb**

Once we were out of the building we went straight to the parking garage and got into Edward's car.

"Hey, where are we going for lunch?" I asked curiously.

"Well, I usually go and have lunch at Giulia's and Francesco's restaurant," was his answer.

"Oh, that's great. I haven't seen them since I was there with Esme a few weeks ago. Anyway, isn't it a bit far away from work to go there for lunch? I mean, usually employees go to lunch somewhere close to work."

"Yes, they do, but I'm not really into going to a restaurant that's full of people I see everyday anyway. Plus, my, like Emmett likes to call it, 'fan club' is somewhere there, too, and I really don't want to see Lauren more often than necessary," he said and grimaced, "Anyway, when did you go to La Bella Italia with Esme? You never told me about that."

"Oh, we were there, I think, a day before you came back from Hong Kong. That was the first time I was alone with Esme. It was really funny. Francesco has definitely taken a liking to Esme. He was flirting with her all the time. You should have seen how Esme blushed. It was so cute! But hey, don't tell Carlisle! Esme swore me to secrecy," I laughed and Edward chuckled.

"My lips are sealed," he said and grinned at me.

"Oh, speaking of Hong Kong, guess who's going to accompany you to Munich in a few weeks," I said in a singsong voice. Edward furrowed his brow.

"Tyler, right?" He asked confused.

"Nope, he's afraid of flying."

"How do you know that anyway?"

"Carlisle told me," I answered.

"Hmm, I have no idea. Maybe Emmett or Jasper, but that would be weird. Carlisle needs his CFO and CAO here in Seattle," Edward mused. We pulled into the parking lot of La Bella Italia then and he turned to look at me with a confused expression on his face. I smiled back at him brilliantly. In that moment I saw that the truth dawned on him and a huge smile broke across his face.

"You?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes," I laughed. He reached over and hugged me tightly.

"That's going to be so great, Bella! I know you love Germany and I actually wanted to ask you to come with me anyway, but now it's even better cause we both get paid for it."

"Paid for it?" I asked.

"Yep, of course we get some extra money for flying halfway across the world for the company."

We got out of the car then, our moods still radiant, and entered the restaurant. There weren't many customers around, so it was quiet and relaxing. I began to understand why Edward preferred to come here instead of going to a place closer to the Cullen Enterprises Building. The calm atmosphere was exactly what you needed after the first half of a stressful day. This place was perfect to recharge your batteries.

"Edward! Bella!" Francesco greeted us and came over to hug us both, "I haven't seen you in ages Bella, how is your friend?" Francesco asked eagerly.

"Oh, Esme's fine," I smiled at him and before I could say something else I heard Giulia's voice shouting something to Francesco in Italian.

"Scusi! Giulia needs me in the kitchen. Edward, you know which table, just go there by yourself," Francesco said and then sprinted into the kitchen.

As usual the food was just delicious. I really should ask Giulia for some of her recipes.

We talked about my job a little and about the celebration tonight. Edward still refused to tell me where we were going.

"Please?" I asked, giving him my best puppy dog eyes.

"Nope," he answered with a smile and I pouted.

"Come on Bella, it's a surprise," Edward laughed.

"I don't like surprises. At all," I grumbled in response.

"Oh, I know, but hey! I could be a lot meaner and not tell you about it at all, so be happy with what you know," Edward said and smiled his crooked smile at me.

"Yeah, right," I grumbled again.

After a while it was time for Edward to get back to work, but – even though I insisted he didn't have to - he took me home first.

"So, what are you doing the rest of the afternoon?" Edward asked after he had parked the car in front of the Four Seasons.

"I don't know. I might run by the coffee shop to visit Alice and Rose for a while later. But then, I also have to get ready for tonight. By the way, do I have to dress formal or casual?" I asked. Edward just gave me a look in response.

"Come on Edward, please! I really don't want to show up there in the wrong clothes," I complained.

"Okay, okay. You should dress formal. It's a very nice restaurant," he answered with a sigh, probably knowing I was right.

"Oh oh, 'nice' probably means expensive in your book. I don't like it if people spend too much money on me, especially you," I continued to complain.

"Bella, there is no way you are going to pay tonight. It's my treat. After all I was the one who came up with the idea, so it's the least I can do," Edward answered and looked at his watch. "Shit, Bella, I gotta go or I'll be late for work," Edward added, but I was not ready to leave him, so I quickly changed my plans.

"You know what? I think I'll visit Alice and Rose right away. Do you think you can give me a ride? The coffee shop is close to the Cullen Enterprises Building," I told him innocently.

"Oh, why the sudden change of mind to visit them now and not later?" He asked me slyly.

"I just feel the sudden urge to see my friends," I answered him innocently, batting my eyelashes.

"Oh, and now here I was thinking you might just want to spend a little more time with your boyfriend," he sighed dramatically.

"I confess that that's a very nice side effect," I grinned at him and he returned my smile with one of his crooked ones that always made my heart stop beating for a second.

A few minutes later we stopped in front of the coffee shop and Edward turned to me to kiss me goodbye chastely.

"I'll see you tonight, beautiful." He smiled at me as I got out.

"See you," I answered and then closed the door of his car.

I went inside the coffee shop and headed straight for the counter where Alice was currently counting some money.

"How can I help you?" Alice asked without looking up.

"Hmm, I'd like to have one blueberry muffin, please, Ms Brandon," I said cheerfully. The use of her name and my happy voice made her look up then and she squealed when she saw who was standing in front of the counter. All heads in the coffee shop turned into our direction when they heard Alice squealing loudly which made me blush. If there was one thing I always avoided it was being the center of attention, but that was practically impossible with Alice around. She was only a blur of black and white when she ran around the counter and tackled me into a hug.

"Oh Bella, congratulations! I so knew you would find a good job soon," she told me, looking up, but still not releasing me. "ROSE!" She shouted. "THERE'S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE US. GET YOUR PRETTY ASS UP FRONT RIGHT NOW!"

A second later Rosalie appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and just like Alice she squealed loudly when she saw me. By this point I had reached a new shade of red and was embarrassed as hell. Of course I loved my friends, but a greeting with a little less enthusiasm on their part would have been enough.

"Hey guys, how are you?" I asked once they released me.

"We are sooooooooo good. Bella, we so need to go shopping tomorrow! You need new clothes that fit your job. I mean, all the stuff you have at home is not professional enough and don't even start to complain or do you see Edward leaving for work in jeans and a t-shirt? No, you definitely don't," Alice rambled.

"Alice, take a deep breath and calm down. I hate to admit it, but you're right, I do need new clothes."

Alice looked at me absolutely dumfounded. I don't think I have ever seen her eyes this big and her mouth this wide open.

"Alice? Are you okay?" I asked carefully, but she didn't answer. I looked at Rose and her expression was confused as well.

"Alice, are you alright?" I asked, but still there was no reaction from her.

The next thing I knew was that Rose slapped the back of Alice's head in a very Esme-like style and she finally snapped out of her daze.

"OW! ARE YOU INSANE?" Alice screamed and I looked at Rose with big eyes.

"Sorry, Esme taught me how to properly hit Emmett, but I think that was a little too forceful for Alice," she said sheepishly and looked to the ground.

"You're damn right. What were you thinking? Did you want to break my neck?" Alice asked, still rubbing the back of her head.

"Sorry, Ali," Rose said again and looked at Alice with her best puppy dog eyes which made Alice forgive her instantly.

"It's alright, but _never_ do that again, okay?" Alice asked looking at Rose and she nodded.

"So, what's got you so distracted a few minutes ago anyway?" I asked.

"Bella, can't you guess? I know you for now over six years and this was definitely the first time ever you agreed to go shopping with me. I just wasn't prepared for that answer. I thought I'd never get to hear that," Alice answered and smiled at me, "Anyway, now that you have a new job do you think you'll have enough money to pay for all the clothes and Christmas presents we're gonna buy tomorrow?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Actually, I think it's more than enough. I'll receive my first salary today and as far as I've seen it is way more than both of us earned together over the course of the last two years," I answered, still a little bit ashamed. I doubted that the usual salary for a CCO was that high, but Carlisle insisted on paying me this much.

"Well Bella, seems like you can buy us some awesome Christmas presents then. I mean, you know what I like," she joked. Yes, I knew very well what Rosalie liked. Just like Alice, Rose was a lot into all the famous fashion brands, her favorite being Louis Vuitton. Alice's favorite on the other hand was Gucci. I knew they didn't really expect me to get them something this expensive, but I still thought it would be a good idea to visit the Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores here in Seattle some other time and get something for them as a way of paying them back. They always provided me with the newest designer clothes although they didn't earn a lot of money.

I stayed at the coffee shop for a while and continued talking to Alice and Rose until it was time to leave and get ready for all of us.

"I'll see you girls later," I called before I got into a taxi and headed back home.

Once I was back in the apartment I was frantically searching for something nice to wear. A floor length dress was probably too formal, so I decided to wear a cream colored Chanel chiffon dress that stopped just above my knee with red Manolo Blahnik heels and a red Prada clutch. I put my hair up into a messy bun and put on the expensive earrings and bracelet Alice had given me for my birthday two years ago.

By the time Edward came home I was already ready to go.

"Bella, I'm home," Edward called when he entered the apartment. As soon as he saw me though he halted in his tracks and his eyes widened. I felt self-conscious instantly. Was it too much? Didn't he like it?

"Oh my god, Bella, you look stunning," Edward whispered and came over to give me a long and passionate kiss. My self-consciousness melted away as soon as his lips touched mine and I responded eagerly. When we broke away to catch our breath Edward wouldn't take his eyes off me.

"You like it?" I asked just to clarify what he though.

"No. I love it," he said and kissed me again. After a few minutes Edward excused himself to the bathroom to take a quick shower and dress up. When he emerged from the bedroom about half an hour later he was dressed in a classic black tuxedo and looked breathtaking.

"Wow," I whispered and threw my arms around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. Just like before we kissed for several minutes before Edward broke away chuckling.

"If we don't go now you'll be late for your own party," he smiled down at me.

"I don't care. Alice always tells me to be 'fashionably late'," I mumbled and leaned in for another kiss, but he pulled back.

"I really think we should go, Bella," he laughed upon seeing me pouting.

"Fine," I grumbled and he led me out to the car. We drove through downtown Seattle for a while until we parked the car at a huge parking garage.

"Where are we?" I asked after we exited the parking garage.

"You'll see," Edward said and smirked at me. We walked along the street and rounded a few corners until we were standing directly at the bottom of the Space Needle.

"Oh my god. We are going up there?" I asked excitedly. It was always one of my dreams to have dinner at the restaurant in the Space Needle, but I never got the chance to make that dream come true before.

"Yes. Lillian and Richard told me about your fascination with the Space Needle, so I decided to reserve a table for us there," he answered and gestured towards one of Seattle's tallest buildings.

"Are they going to be here tonight?" I asked.

"No, they couldn't make it. There is some kind of party they need to attend, but they told me to congratulate you on your new job. They are very proud of you," he answered and smiled softly. My uncle's and aunt's praise brought tears to my eyes. I always wanted to make them proud.

A few minutes later we reached the restaurant, Edward helped me out of my coat and the host showed us to our table. Apart from us only Carlisle and Esme were there already.

"Bella!" Esme exclaimed and ran towards me to tackle me with a hug.

"Hi Esme! I'm so glad you came," I said and smiled at her.

"Oh, I'm so happy you invited me. You look gorgeous by the way," she said before turning to Edward. "Edward, how are you?"

While Edward and Esme greeted each other I walked over to Carlisle to do the same.

"Hey boss," I smirked and he laughed.

"Oh, please Bella, are you going to call me that from now on?"

"Only if you want me to," I said, mock flirting with him while wiggling my eyebrows. I wasn't disappointed by his reaction. I already noticed that Carlisle was a lot more like Emmett than most people in general noticed, so I wasn't surprised when he broke into a roar of laughter that made people turn their heads into our direction.

"Carlisle! For a second I thought Emmett has entered the room," Esme scolded.

"Sorry, Bella is just so funny," he choked out between laughs.

"DID I JUST HEAR MY NAME?" A voice roared from the other side of the restaurant and we saw none other than Emmett enter the room with Rosalie right behind him. She just rolled her eyes, smacked the back of his head hard and whisper yelled something to him we couldn't understand. Whatever it was it successfully shut Emmett up for a moment. This moment of silence though was broken when Emmett saw me standing next to his dad.

"BELLSY!" He roared and picked me up into one of his bone crashing hugs.

"Emmett…can't breathe," I choked out and he sat me down before apologizing.

"So, let's get this party started now that I'm here," Emmett said in his booming voice. Rosalie shot Esme a look and she nodded.

"Emmett," Esme said in her typical scolding tone which made Emmett look at her defensively.

"Yes mom?" He asked warily.

"Please, this is Bella's night and I'd appreciate it if you didn't ruin it. You can start by using your indoor voice and not your I-gotta-drown-out-that-jackhammer voice," Esme told him in the same tone and Emmett only nodded.

"I'll try mom. I can't promise anything, though."

We all laughed after that – Emmett a lot quieter than usual – and sat down.

"Where's Alice?" Rose asked.

"Knowing her she'll be late," I answered and shrugged.

"Oh, is that normal for Alice?" Esme asked.

"No. She's usually always in time, but when she goes out she prefers to be 'fashionably late'. Don't ask me why. I never got it," I answered and Esme nodded.

After a few more minutes said pixie and her boyfriend entered the restaurant and walked over to our table.

"Hello everybody! Sorry we're late," Alice sang when she sat down at the table.

"No need to apologize pixie. Bellsy already told us that you prefer to be late. Love a great entrance, huh?" Emmett joked and Alice first glared at him and then at me.

"Oh! So that's why we had to sit in the living room for another twenty minutes although we were already ready to leave?" Jasper asked naively which made matters only worse.

Alice huffed, crossed her arms over her chest and started to ignore the rest of us, including Jasper who apologized over and over again for his comment, but to no avail.

"Don't worry Jasper. Give her a few minutes and she'll be her usual energetic self. Ignoring us is just part of her game plan," I answered calmly. Alice glared at me, but sure enough a few minutes later she was talking animatedly with Rosalie about some new fashion designer from Europe.

We ordered some champagne while waiting for our meals and Carlisle decided it was time for a toast, so he got up which made all the others fall silent.

"You know why we are all here today. We are here to celebrate that young Bella here is going to be a part of Cullen Enterprises from Monday on. When my old CCO told me that he was going to retire soon I truly was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Most of you know that the main requirement for people in leading positions in my company is that I can trust them and that wasn't the case with a single one of all applicants for the job. I very nearly gave up, but that was when Jasper told me about his cousin – slash – sister coming home with a degree from Columbia. He was always telling us about what a wonderful person you are and I really have to say that I agree wholeheartedly. When Edward then started to talk about you as well – though in a totally different way than Jasper – I was struck by how fast you made a man like Edward, who isn't exactly easy to handle, like you. Of course, looking at you two now it's easy to understand. Then, finally, I was allowed to meet you the morning I treated you in the hospital and don't ask me how she did it, but she has had me wrapped around her little finger since then. Still, I decided that I needed to give myself more time to get to know you better before I offered you a job at Cullen Enterprises. However, that didn't stop me to call an old friend of mine at Columbia, so I could take a look at your file and what I saw was impressive. Of course I knew about the Journalism degree which basically included profound knowledge of the English language and what is going on in the world, I did however not anticipate finding you being the top of your class at a business course you took. I took a look at the curriculum and it was far more than I required. So, to keep the rest of the story short because I really don't want to bore you all, I decided to ask Bella to be my new CCO and – thank god! – she said yes. I'd like to thank you again Bella and wish you just the best for your job at Cullen Enterprises. If you'll ever have a question or need help, don't hesitate to ask! The boys and I will always be there for you. Cheers!"

Carlisle finished his speech and rose his glass. The others applauded while I was close to tears after hearing all the praise I had gotten. I totally forgot about drinking my champagne and got up to hug first Carlisle, then Jasper, then Emmett and last but not least Edward and thanked them personally. They had no idea how eternally grateful I was.

"Oh god, stop the waterworks Bellsy. I don't like seeing you cry," Emmett said after I had sat down again.

"Sorry, it's just so overwhelming. Thank you, thank you all for what you've done for me. You have no idea how incredibly thankful I am to have a family like you," I choked while I tried to hold back the tears.

"Don't worry about it Bella. You have no idea how blessed _we_ are to have _you_ as a part of _our_ family," Jasper said kindly while smiling softly at me.

"Well said," Emmett said and took another huge gulp of his champagne which made Rosalie roll her eyes.

"He's right. However no one is as blessed as I am to have you," Edward whispered in my ear after the others had started their own conversations. I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but sincerity there. I was so mesmerized by his stunning emerald eyes that I didn't notice how quiet it was suddenly around us.

"Hey you two love birds! Stop the corniness or I'll get sick," Emmett boomed which made us both jump and glare at him. Before either of us could say something, though, Rosalie and Esme combined their forces and hit Emmett's head hard.

"OW! What the hell? Why are you always hitting me?" He asked rubbing his head.

"Maybe because we hope that at some point it will help and you will shut up when other people are having a moment," Esme growled frighteningly.

"Yeah, or maybe we just hope to disable you for a few seconds," Rosalie added and shot him a dark look.

I knew that I should probably be angry at Emmett, but the dumbstruck expression on his face just made me burst out into laughter. Everyone looked at me and after a while of me gesturing towards Emmett's face which wore a very comically confused expression the rest of the table – apart from Emmett – joined in.

"Oh god, you guys are going to kill me at one point," I exclaimed, still breathing heavy from all the laughing.

"Correction, _Emmett_ is going to kill you one day," Edward amended.

"True. You're the bomb Emmett," I said.

"Yeah, you're the freaking most hilarious nuclear bomb in the history of the world," Alice exclaimed, still laughing hard. We all looked at her after her weird statement and broke into fits of laughter again and this time Emmett's loud booming laugh joined in. Still, she was right, Emmett wasn't the usual bomb, he was an extra destructive nuclear bomb. _God, how I loved this family._

_

* * *

  
_


	18. Confessions and overenthusiastic friends

**Confessions and overenthusiastic friends**

"FOOD!"

"EMMETT!"

It was so funny to watch. As soon as the waiter stalked into our direction with dishes full of the most delicious meals I had ever tasted Emmett behaved like a little kid about to get his Christmas presents. Even funnier, though, was the way Esme, Rosalie _and _Carlisle screamed at him when he jumped up and snatched the dishes away from the waiter, so he could get his food faster. Esme and Carlisle told the waiter over and over again how sorry they were for their son's behavior while the waiter watched Emmett with an amused expression while he dug into his food with as much enthusiasm as a man who didn't get anything to eat for days.

"It's alright. It's not daily that our guests are _that_ happy and enthusiastic to get their food," the waiter chuckled and left.

Although all of us had our food in front of us on the table none of us ate as we wanted to watch the show that was about to unfold. While Emmett continued eating like nothing had happened with the biggest smile on his face, Esme's face turned redder by the second. I had never seen her _that_ furious before. Edward squeezed my hand and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Watch this. I haven't seen her like this for at least two years and the last time Emmett wouldn't look into her eyes for days after she was done with him," he whispered with a smirk on his face. I smiled back and seconds later the show started.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen," Esme said in an eerily calm voice. Emmett stopped eating at once and looked at Esme with fear in his eyes.

"Yes, mother?" He asked formally. His voice was unusually quiet.

"Can't you guess what I'm about to say?" She asked.

"No?" Emmett said and it sounded like a question.

"Do you remember what I told you before?" Esme asked, still in that eerily calm voice.

"Uhm…you said I should behave myself cause this is Bella's night," Emmett answered after thinking about it for a short while.

"Exactly and was that what you were doing?"

"Uhm…ye- uhm…I think…no," he stammered and sighed the last word.

Esme didn't say a word and just stared at her son with an unfathomable expression, although you could see a slight hint of disappointment on her face. Emmett stared right back at her and his expression grew more and more anxious the longer Esme stayed silent. I guess he wasn't used to her not saying anything and that was scaring him a bit.

"Mother?" He asked uncertainly.

Esme said nothing.

"Mom?"

Still nothing.

"Mommy?"

Esme remained silent, although Emmett's voice grew more anxious and desperate the more he had to call her name. Knowing Esme she must be really mad at Emmett as she would usually just scold him and then go back to her loving self, especially when he called her 'Mommy'. But this time she said nothing and after a few more seconds she took her silverware and started eating, ignoring Emmett completely. We took that as our sign to start eating as well. I felt slightly uncomfortable, as did Alice and Rose I guess, but the boys, apart from Emmett of course, were totally at ease. They must have seen this more often already.

"So Carlisle I heard about that new project they started at Harborview. Something about a new kind of medicine to cure leukemia?" Jasper broke the silence after a few seconds.

"Oh yes! We are very proud of that project and as of now our patients' conditions are getting better and better," Carlisle answered happily and the tense atmosphere was suddenly gone. We all started to talk among ourselves. Well, all apart from Emmett who still looked at Esme with a pleading and guilty expression, but she continued to ignore him.

"You know, I kind of feel bad for Emmett. It must be hard for him to be ignored by his own mother," I whispered in Edward's ear after we were done eating and Emmett still hadn't said a thing.

"Oh, yes it is. This is kind of Esme's secret weapon against him. The longest he was ever able to be treated like that were two days and then he fell to his knees in front of Esme, kissed her feet, promised her to behave in the future and begged for her forgiveness while tears were streaming down his face. Of course Esme forgave him then. If there's one thing Esme can't stand then it's her baby crying," Edward answered and smiled kindly towards Esme.

"She truly is an amazing Mom, isn't she?" I said more to myself.

"Yeah, she is," Edward answered softly. "Speaking of Moms. I got a call from my parents today at work."

"Really? What did they say?" I asked, smiling at him when I remembered the day I had talked to his Mom and Dad on the phone.

"They are coming to Seattle for Christmas and they, Mom especially, can't wait to meet you in person," he smiled.

"Your parents are coming up for Christmas?" Esme asked across the table, smiling at Edward.

"Yes, they will," Edward answered. Esme seemed to think about something and then a brilliant smile broke across her face.

"What do you think if we all celebrated Christmas together?" She asked enthusiastically.

"That's a great idea Mom!" Emmett exclaimed, apparently hoping that agreeing with Esme would bring him back into her good books. Esme however just continued to ignore him and pretended not to have heard him which made Emmett's face turn even sadder than before. His expression was so heartbreaking that I felt the urge to just get up and hug him.

"That would be great, but I already promised my parents to celebrate with them," Alice said sadly.

"Yeah, us too," Rosalie answered for Jasper, her and me.

"So? Invite them all! Our house is big enough."

"Really?" Alice, Rose, Jasper and me asked simultaneously.

"Sure," Esme said. "That won't be a problem, right Carlisle?" She said, turning towards Carlisle who was smiling at her softly.

"Of course not, sweetheart."

After that Alice quickly excused herself to call her parents and tell them about the change of plans. Rose did the same and called Lillian and Richard while Jasper and I smiled at each other. Suddenly, though, Jasper's face turned really white and he looked like he was about to puke.

"Jasper? Hey big brother, are you alright?" I asked worriedly and everyone turned towards Jasper.

"Yeah, sure, I'm alright," he said trying to soothe us, but he still sounded sick.

"Jasper," I scolded him and he took a deep breath and sighed.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just slightly scared about meeting Alice's parents, especially her Dad."

"Oh, don't worry. Mary is pretty much a slightly taller, blond version of Alice. Just turn on the southern charm you got from Uncle Richard and you'll have her wrapped around your little finger in a matter of seconds," I reassured him, but he still didn't look better.

"Her Dad?" He asked.

"Oh, John is a funny guy. Well, funny in Uncle Richard's kind of way. He's gruff, but very loyal and friendly. However that might change once you tell him you're with his little girl," I joked and Jasper turned green. "I was kidding Jasper! He'll like you, too. I'll help you with him if you want to. He does see me as a second daughter."

"Wow, you have quite a number of Dads, Bellsy," Emmett said, speaking for the first time since his conversation with Esme.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused by his comment.

"Well, you have your real Dad, Richard, my Dad and Alice's Dad. Edward, watch out! You'll have a lot of Dads to impress," Emmett said and I snorted.

"Richard and Carlisle knew him before he started dating me, so of course they already like him and if Uncle Richard likes him he won't be having any problems with John," I said and Edward did look slightly relieved when I looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Hey guys! Mom and Dad are really happy they get to spend Christmas with us. My Mom actually hung up on me, so she could search for flights and hotel rooms on the internet," Alice said happily. A few seconds later Rose came back and told us that her parents agreed either.

"Great! Oh, I've got to start planning everything tomorrow. I wonder…" Esme said and was instantly lost in thought.

"Esmeeeeeee?" Alice said and looked at Esme with her big puppy dog eyes.

"Yes?" Esme asked, smiling at Alice softly.

"Can I help you? Please?" Alice begged, turning the full force of her eyes on Esme.

"Oh god, Esme, watch out! It's _the look_!" I said in a mock shocked tone.

"Of course you can help me Alice," Esme laughed. Alice clapped her hands happily and started bouncing up and down on her chair which made the rest of us chuckle. Jasper looked at her lovingly and when he caught me looking at him I smiled at him softly, showing him that I'm happy for him, and he smiled back.

"Hey Bella? When do you want to go shopping tomorrow?" Alice asked me.

"Since when do you give me a choice?" I asked her confusedly.

"I don't. I just want to hear your opinion. I'll decide then."

"Uhm, I guess we need to start out early cause I have to get presents for…," I quickly did the mental math, "13 people and that will take a while."

"Okay, what about…eight in the morning?"

"No."

Everyone looked surprised because it wasn't me who objected. It was Edward.

"What?" Alice asked.

"I refuse to let Bella out of the house before ten in the morning. I know she hates to get up early," Edward said and shrugged. I was touched by how considerate he was and took his hand and squeezed it. He looked at me and we smiled at each other. When we looked back towards the others again they were all looking at us with soft expressions on their faces, even Alice.

"Okay. Just because you two are so cute I'll make you a deal. I'll pick you up at noon, but I don't want to hear any complaining, okay?" Alice said and smiled at me.

"Okay," I answered quickly, enthusiastically.

The rest of the night passed by quickly and before I knew it Edward and I were back in the car and on our way home. We didn't talk much, but enjoyed the comfortable silence. Edward held my hand the whole time and traced little circles on the back of it with his thumb. It was an innocent yet intimate gesture and I enjoyed every second of it.

When we arrived at the building we parked the car and went to the elevator to get to our floor. I noticed that Edward ran his hand through his hair very often, a save sign that he was anxious, but I had no idea why. I was confused by his actions which was only intensified when he started to fidget.

"Edward, are you okay?" I asked him concernedly. His eyes widened and he once again ran his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," he muttered quickly and innocently, a little too innocently, and looked away.

I was beyond confused at that moment. Everything had been perfect up until a few minutes ago, so why was he suddenly so nervous and wouldn't look me in the eye? Had something happened? Something I didn't know about yet?

My musing was interrupted by our elevator stopping at our floor. I got out and walked towards the apartment door while Edward trailed behind. When I reached the door I turned around and waited for him to unlock it. He was standing a few feet away from me and didn't make a move to open the door. What the hell was going on with him?

"It's unlocked," was all he said when I gestured towards the door. I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at him in confusion. I was about to say something again when he interrupted me.

"Bella, no more questions. Just open the door and you'll see what's going on," he said.

I stared at him for a few more seconds, my mind absolutely blank, before I turned and opened the door. I was confused at first when there was a dim light inside, but then I noticed the candles and the red rose pedals and I stood frozen in the doorway for a few seconds before I slowly entered the apartment, looking around and taking everything in. This was amazing. I always knew Edward was the perfect guy, but I didn't think he could get anymore perfect. How wrong I was. This was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me and I was close to tears when Edward started to speak. His voice displayed his nervousness.

"Do you like it? If it's too much just tell me."

I turned around with tears in my eyes. Edward's eyes widened when he saw that I was close to crying and he came over quickly and hugged me to his chest tightly.

"Bella, love, what's going on?" He said and stroked my back.

"I-I'm so h-happy," I sobbed into his chest. "No one has ever been this nice to me, no one has ever treated me this way. Thank you Edward."

"You're very welcome, but there's a reason I did all this. Will you accompany me to the piano?" He asked while wiping away the tears on my face gently. I nodded and we walked into the living room and then over to the piano where we sat down on the bench together. Without another word Edward began to play, his eyes never leaving mine. The melody he created with his talented fingers was the most beautiful one I had ever heard in my life. It was sweet, at some points even unbearably sweet, and portrayed so much love that I felt my eyes water. I could see the emotion burning in Edward's eyes as well as he ended the song on a more melancholy note.

"Edward, that was beautiful," I whispered, not trusting my voice.

"Thank you," Edward said quietly, "I've written it for you."

"You wrote this?" I asked surprised before his words completely sunk in. "For _me_?"

"Yes, I did. I got the inspiration for this song the day I met you at the beach. I couldn't sleep, having to think about you all the time, so I decided to get up and just try to play the melody that was floating around in my head."

"Thank you," I said and looked down, blushing.

"There's a reason I played it for you tonight," Edward said as he gently put a hand under my chin and made me look at him, "I love you, Bella."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He loved me. He _loved_ me. He loved _me_.

Edward was staring at me intently, waiting for an answer.

"I love you, too," I whispered.

A brilliant smile broke across Edward's face and he placed his hands on either side of it and leaned in to kiss me deeply. It was a slow kiss, a kiss with a meaning behind it. I could feel Edward pouring all his love for me into that kiss and I did the same. However amazing all our previous kisses were, none of them even came close to this one. It was the kind of kiss that made your toes curl.

"I love you, Bella, so much," Edward whispered with his eyes closed when we broke the kiss and he leaned his forehead against mine.

I reached up to caress his cheek which made him open his eyes and look at me. There was a certain spark in his deep green orbs I hadn't seen before.

"I love you, too. More than you could possibly imagine," I whispered, smiling at him softly.

"I'm so glad I finally told you Bella. I don't think I could have held it in much longer. Every time I saw you I had to restrain myself from blurting it out accidentally. I wanted it to be special and I hope I succeeded," Edward whispered.

"This is the most special thing anyone has ever done for me Edward. You have no idea how much all of this means to me," I answered.

We didn't talk much for the rest of the night, but cuddled and kissed each other until we fell asleep late at night.

When I woke up the next morning I found myself lying on my side, facing Edward's muscular chest while his arm was wrapped protectively and tightly around my waist. I looked up at him and saw that for once I was up before him. At first I thought about getting up and making breakfast, but decided against it when I saw how happy I was just to be able to watch Edward sleep once again. He looked so peaceful. Half of his head was buried in the pillows, his hair was even wilder than usual, his mouth was slightly open letting me feel his deep breathing on my skin and his face was completely relaxed in unconsciousness.

I couldn't help myself and reached up to stroke the side of his face after a while and watched in satisfaction as a small soft smile broke across his face and his arms tightened around my waist.

I loved him.

He made me feel so many different things I hadn't even known existed before we met. Our relationship was effortless and comfortable, something I thought was impossible. To me it always seemed as if relationships meant a lot of hard work, but not for us. We were different. We just enjoyed our time together.

After a while Edward started to stir and I leaned up to give him a soft chaste kiss on the lips.

"Good morning sleepyhead," I whispered and his beautiful green eyes found my brown ones.

"Good morning, love," he whispered and kissed me again, just as softly as I had kissed him, "How long are you already awake?"

"I don't know. I've been up for quite some time now."

"What did you do the whole time?" He asked, caressing my hair gently while looking into my eyes lovingly.

"I watched you sleep. You looked so peaceful, I couldn't bear to wake you up," I whispered snuggling into his chest. Never before had I felt as safe and protected as I did now, lying in Edward's arms. He kissed the top of my head and we spent some more time lying in bed together, basking in each other's company, but at some point we decided to get up as I still had to get ready for Rose's, Alice's and my shopping trip today. While I was getting ready Edward prepared breakfast, making his signature blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes. I ate a lot that morning because knowing Alice I would need _a lot _of energy today.

"Wow, these are sooooo good Edward. I can't say this often enough. You have to teach me how to make them like this once. Coming to think of it, you have to teach me how to make all the stuff you can cook. It's just so good," I moaned in delight and Edward watched me with an amused expression.

"You know, Giulia just called me a few days ago and asked me whether I wanted to learn how to cook some new meals. What do you think about coming along? I'm sure it's much better to be taught by _the master_ of Italian food rather than by a mere apprentice," he chuckled and I smiled.

"I'd love to," I said enthusiastically.

"Okay, I'll call Giulia this afternoon and tell her we'll be coming over soon," he smiled at me.

At noon I left the apartment and walked down into the lobby where I told Alice to meet me. When I stepped out of the elevator I was immediately greeted by a sight I would never forget. It was hard for me to not just simply burst out laughing. There Alice was, sitting on top of Geoffrey's desk chattering away without really noticing his uncomfortable expression. When I came closer and heard what Alice was telling Geoffrey I just couldn't help myself and burst out into roaring laughter.

"Oh, hey Bella! I was just telling this gentleman here about that new Gucci bag I have seen yesterday. Oh, I wish I could afford it! It's awesome!" Alice gushed and I rolled my eyes and turned to Geoffrey.

"I'm sorry about her Geoffrey. My friend Alice here is a little overenthusiastic when it comes to fashion and shopping. I hope she didn't annoy you too much?" I laughed while Alice glared at me.

"No, no, Ms Swan. It was quite enlightening actually. I guess I now know what to get my wife and daughters for Christmas," he laughed.

"Oh, please Geoffrey, call me Bella."

"As you wish Ms Bella," He winked at me.

"Bellaaaaa, we gotta go! We've got so much to do," Alice whined.

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later Geoffrey. Have a nice day," I said.

"You too, Ms Bella. Enjoy your shopping trip," he chuckled.

"I most certainly won't," I laughed while Alice towed me towards the door.

I _definitely_ wouldn't.

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**Okay, here are all chapters rewritten. Hope you still like my story :) I even succeeded in uploading all chapters before midnight!!! (midnight CET that is)  
**

**I didn't write it in the previous chapter, but still, I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT...unfortunately.**

**Leave me some love :)  
**


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